WASHINGTON, January 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Monday, January 6, adopted a resolution deploring North Korea’s violation of nuclear safeguard obligations and demanding that Pyongyang urgently comply with its commitments.

The resolution, released in Vienna where the IAEA board met, calls on the agency’s director-general Mohammed ElBaradei to pass on the concerns and seek urgent talks with North Korean officials on the matter, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

According to the resolution, the IAEA board “deplores in the strongest terms the DPRK’s unilateral acts” to remove safeguards at its Yongbyon nuclear plant and kick out IAEA inspectors.

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea’s official name: the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea.

In the resolution, the IAEA board also said it “considers that the DPRK’s actions are of great non-proliferation concern and make the agency unable at present to verify that all nuclear material in the DPRK is declared and submitted to agency safeguards.”

The resolution calls for North Korea to immediately resume its cooperation with the IAEA but does not spell out consequences for its failure to do so, saying only that non-compliance would mean Pyongyang would be in further violation of its commitments.

The board “affirms that unless the DPRK takes all necessary steps to allow the Agency to implement all the required safeguards measures, the DPRK will be in further non-compliance with its safeguards agreement,” the resolution says.

The resolution also emphasizes that the international community seeks a peaceful resolution to the crisis and expresses the board’s “support for efforts to promote through diplomatic means the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

U.S. "Delighted"

For its part, Washington immediately welcomed the move, saying it was “delighted” with the nine-point resolution adopted by consensus by the IAEA’s 35-member Board of Governors.

Washington hailed the passage of the resolution even before the IAEA board announced it had been adopted.

“This is an important message to North Korea from the international community and we hope North Korea will listen to this message,” said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation John Wolf said the resolution was a “strong text and I think it reflected the view of the international community that a strong text was required given the circumstances.”

“We are delighted with this text,” Wolf told a small group of reporters in a conference call. “This says exactly what we hoped it would say. This is a very good text.”

He called North Korea’s actions “dangerous, unprecedented, irresponsible and unilateral actions that exacerbate its long-standing non-compliance.”

“North Korea is the first country in history to unilaterally disable IAEA safeguards,” he said.

“We welcome, of course, the board’s call and we will continue to work closely with our friends and allies in meetings this afternoon and elsewhere,” he said, referring specifically to meetings later Monday in Washington between U.S., South Korean and Japanese officials.

No Negotiation under Blackmail: ElBaradei

In Vienna, ElBaradei, meanwhile, said Monday that the international community will not be blackmailed in its negotiations with North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear program, warning to take the issue to the U.N. Security Council seeking sanctions to be imposed.

“The international community is not ready to negotiate under blackmail,” he told a news conference after the IAEA passed the resolution.

ElBaradei warned that North Korea must first comply with its international obligations on non-proliferation before it can negotiate with the international community.

“Once they comply there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said, adding that a number of countries had made it clear they are ready to engage in discussions over security and economic assistance once North Korea comes back into line with its international obligations.

ElBaradei, earlier Monday, demanded that North Korea honor its agreement not to produce nuclear weapons, warning that it threatened to trigger worldwide nuclear proliferation.