Vienna  - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei called Monday for Arab countries to help resolve the Iranian nuclear spat, which seems more achievable under the new United States administration.

"The neighbours so far have been sitting on the fence," he said during a speech in the Austrian Parliament in Vienna, hosted by the Austrian Society for Foreign Policy and International Relations.

Vienna  - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei called for a substantial budget increase Monday, even as two diplomats in the race to succeed him have struck a more cautious tone amid the current economic crisis.

ElBaradei warned member states Monday that "if we carry on with business as usual, the agency's effectiveness and the quality of the services we provide to you will continue to erode to a dangerous level."

Vienna - Only Japan and South Africa have submitted candidates for succeeding Mohamed ElBaradei at the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Vienna-based organisation confirmed Friday in a statement.

As ElBaradei's third and last term ends at the end of November 2009, Yukiya Amano of Japan and Abdul Samad Minty of South Africa, who represent their countries at the IAEA Board of Governors, are now vying for the prestigious post of director general.

The deadline for IAEA member states to name candidates ended on December 31, 2008.

Vienna  - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei called on Syria Thursday to allow further inspections of the country's alleged nuclear programme.

In his statement before the IAEA board of governors, ElBaradei also urged Iran to clarify open questions on past studies that were possibly related to the development of nuclear weapons.

Vienna  - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Wednesday it had not been able to make any progress on clarifying whether Iran had conducted research that was related to developing nuclear bombs.

In his latest report on Iran to IAEA member states, Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said that "regrettably, as a result of the lack of cooperation by Iran in connection with the alleged studies and other associated key remaining issues of serious concern, the Agency has not been able to make substantive progress on these issues."

The report, which was also submitted to the United Nations Security Council in New York, showed that Iran is close to completing the installation of nearly 6,000 centrifuges.

Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found uranium at an alleged secret Syrian nuclear reactor site that was bombed by Israel last year, a diplomat told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa in Vienna on Monday.

Another diplomat indicated that IAEA inspectors had found traces of the metal during their first visit to the al-Kibar site in the Syrian desert in June, which was bombed by Israeli warplanes in September 2007.

Both diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity.