Special coverage: Iran Nuke Issue Related Readings: UN agency halts some Iran aid Iran gets army gear in Pentagon sale Iran president sends note to Saudi king US push to strip Iran of aid resisted Iran gets army gear in Pentagon sale Gates: Iran sees US as bogged down

ElBaradei called for a resumption of talks with Tehran, including the possibility of a French negotiator. "My worry right now is that each side is sticking to its guns," the International Atomic Energy Agency chief said. "We need someone to reach out."

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said this week that now is not the time for the United States to talk to Iran, adding that Tehran does not appear ready to accept a conditional US offer to join European talks over its nuclear program.

ElBaradei warned that only applying pressure could prompt the Islamic republic to follow the path of North Korea, which kicked out UN inspectors and pulled out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2003 and then conducted its first nuclear weapons test last October.

"My priority is to keep Iran inside the system," he said.  

1

2