STEVE INSKEEP, host: Now, Senator Santorum is not the only official wondering what to do about Iran. The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency has been thinking about how to keep countries, like Iran, from possessing nuclear weapons. Speaking last night in Washington, Mohammed El Baradei, warned that threats from the West may actually drive countries to seek nuclear weapons.</s>Mr. MOHAMMED EL BERADEI (Director General, International Atomic Energy Agency): When I hear sometime that countries are trying to develop new nuclear weapons, what the message you are sending to the Korean of the world and Iranian of the world, well, maybe we need to continue to do what we are doing, because we will provide ourselves with the shield. We will provide ourselves with prestige. You know, we'll be more influential. So, it takes two to tango.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: Yesterday, the U.S., France, and Britain announced a plan to urge the United Nations Security Council to formally ban the sale of nuclear technology to Iran. The Security Council, by the way, has already imposed sanctions on North Korea.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News.
Speaking Tuesday in Washington, Mohammed El Baradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned that threats from the West may actually drive countries to seek nuclear weapons.