IAEA head: Attacking Iran would be 'madness'

clipped from www.usatoday.com The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency cautioned on Thursday that an attack on Iran over its refusal to freeze programs that could make nuclear weapons would be "an act of madness," in indirect warnings to the United States and Israel. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei also said Iran would likely be running close to 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges by the end of next month — a number agency officials have described as the point of no return in the start of a large-scale program ElBaradei described any use of force as "an act of madness ... (that) would not resolve the issue." "The next few months will be crucial," he said, adding: "Iran is building a capacity, a knowledge" of enrichment that is irreversible, while not providing "an assurance that this is a peaceful program." "The longer we delay, the less option we have to reach a peaceful solution," he warned. ElBaradei spoke at the end of a meeting of his agency's 35-nation board