QUITO, March 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama's offer of better ties with Iran could help improve security in the Middle East, U.N. atomic watchdog head Mohamed ElBaradei said on Tuesday. Last week Obama proposed a fresh start in relations with the Islamic nation that the United States accuses of seeking nuclear weapons and arming Palestinian and Lebanese Islamist groups fighting Israel. "Obama was talking of a direct negotiation without preconditions," ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said through an interpreter during a visit to Quito. "This is very important," he said. "This could have a very positive impact on the overall security of the Middle East." ElBaradei, who is touring several Latin American countries, said he hoped Iran would also "stretch their hand" to Washington. ElBaradei, an Egyptian who won the Nobel Peace Price along with Vienna-based IAEA in 2005, leaves office in November and his successor is to be picked on Thursday. Iran has said Obama's videotaped overture did not amount to a change in U.S. policies, but that Tehran would respond to any real policy shift by Washington. Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic ties for three decades. Washington accuses Tehran of seeking to build a nuclear bomb, a charge Tehran denies. But Obama has set a more conciliatory tone after the Bush administration's policy of isolating Iran, and a review of the U.S. policy toward Iran is under way in Washington. The U.N. Security Council has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Iran for refusing to stop uranium enrichment. The IAEA said this month Iran strayed from non-proliferation obligations by ceasing to provide data on nuclear plans and increasing restrictions on inspections. (Reporting by Alexandra Valencia; writing by Alonso Soto; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
An Israeli police officer rides a horse during confrontations with stone-throwers in the northern town of Umm el-Fahm March 24, 2009. Dozens of Jewish ultranationalists marched along the outskirts of Umm ...
