When ElBaradei talked to the Iranians, US listened in

Although eavesdropping, even on allies, is considered a well-worn tool of national security and diplomacy, the efforts against ElBaradei demonstrate the lengths some within the administration are willing to go to replace a top international diplomat who questioned US intelligence on Iraq and is now taking a cautious approach on Iran. The intercepted calls have not produced any evidence of nefarious conduct by ElBaradei, according to three officials who have read them. But some within the administration believe they show ElBaradei lacks impartiality because he tried to help Iran navigate a diplomatic crisis over its nuclear programs.

Others argue the transcripts demonstrate nothing more than standard telephone diplomacy.

In Vienna, where the IAEA is headquartered, officials said they were not surprised about the eavesdropping.‘‘‘We’ve always assumed that this kind of thing goes on,’’ said IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky. ‘‘We wish it were otherwise, but we know the reality.’’

The IAEA, often called the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency, coordinates nuclear safety around the world and monitors materials that could be diverted for weapons use. It has played pivotal investigative roles in four major crises in recent years: Iran, Iraq, North Korea and the nuclear black market run by one of Pakistan’s top scientists. Each issue has produced some tension between the agency and the White House, and this is not the first time that ElBaradei or other UN officials have been the targets of a spy campaign.

Three weeks before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003, the Observer newspaper in Britain published a secret directive from the National Security Agency ordering increased eavesdropping on UN diplomats. Earlier this year, Clare Short, who served in British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Cabinet, said British spies had eavesdropped on UN Secretary General Kofi Annan’s calls during that period and that she had read transcripts of the intercepts.

ElBaradei is well-respected inside the United Nations, and many of the countries that sit on the IAEA board have asked him to stay for a third term beginning next summer. To block that, Washington would need to persuade a little more than one-third of the IAEA’s 35-member board to vote against his reappointment. But even some of the administration’s closest friends, including Britain, appear to be reluctant to join a fight they believe is motivated by a desire to pay back ElBaradei for Iraq.

—LAT-WP

‘Possibility of military action against Iran not ruled out’

The United States doesn’t rule out the possibility of military action against iran if the ongoing diplomatic efforts fail to result in the ‘‘permanent abandonment’’ of its nuclear programme, a senior Bush administration official was quoted as saying.

US Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Douglas J. Feith, told the Jerusalem Post that Washington hopes that the ongoing diplomatic efforts bears fruits and Tehran takes a clue from Tripoli and give up on its nuclear ambitions.

‘‘I don’ think that anybody should be ruling in or ruling out anything while we are conducting diplomacy,’’ the told the Jerusalem Post on the possibility of a military action. —PTI