The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency says he’s confident the standoff over Iran’s nuclear activities can be resolved diplomatically. Mohamed ElBaradei spoke in Amsterdam Thursday.

• Mohamed ElBaradei: “I am very optimistic. I hope both sides will move away from the war of words, I hope the pitch will go down, I hope people will adopt a cool-headed approach, I hope people will make necessary compromises, and we need compromises from both sides, to ensure on the one hand that Iran has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, nobody questions that right, but at the same time, Iran owes it to the international community to make sure that its program is exclusively for peaceful purposes, so they have work to do with IAEA to clarify outstanding issues.”