Diplomatic sources: 'ElBaradei's Iran comments irrelevant'

       Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem dismissed as "irrelevant" Saturday night comments made by Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who said efforts to stop Iran's nuclear march have been a failure. "We haven't really moved one inch toward addressing the issues," ElBaradei told The Los Angeles Times in an interview published Friday. "I think so far the policy has been a failure." ElBaradei, the 66-year-old Egyptian diplomat who will retire next year and who was frequently at odds with the Bush Administration, said US President-elect Barack Obama gave him "lots of hope." "He is ready to talk to his adversaries - enemies, if you like - including Iran, also [North] Korea," he said. "To continue to pound the table and say, 'I am not going to talk to you,' and act in a sort of a very condescending way - that exaggerates problems." (08,57)