IMPEACH BUSH

The United Nations' top nuclear cop yesterday slammed critics of a new inspection deal with Iran as "back-seat drivers" trying to justify a war with Tehran in the same way they cleared a path for the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency, named no names in a briefing for reporters at the IAEA's headquarters in Vienna, Austria. But his harsh words reflected the depth of suspicion and distrust between the Egyptian diplomat and critics in the United States, both inside and outside the Bush administration.

Pleading for time to allow a new Iranian inspection plan to work, Mr. ElBaradei said, "I hear war drums that are basically saying that the solution is to bomb Iran. It makes me shudder because some of the rhetoric is a reminder" of the run-up to the Iraq war.

"There have been back-seat drivers putting in their five cents saying this is not a good working arrangement," he said, according to an account by the Reuters news agency.

"I tell them: Please, leave the driving to us and we will let you know where we are in November."

The official U.S. response to the IAEA chief's comments was measured, but U.S. officials also made it clear that Iran must do far more than meet the IAEA's goals to put to rest questions about its suspect nuclear programs.

"I would certainly hope that [Mr. ElBaradei's] comments would not refer to the United States, because they certainly wouldn't be true," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said.

Mr. Casey and the U.S. Ambassador to the IAEA, Gregory Schulte, said they back the IAEA's efforts to clear up "historical" questions about Iran's secret nuclear programs. But they added that the United States and its allies still demand that Iran suspend key activities, such as uranium enrichment, or face new international sanctions.