The comments by Condoleezza Rice were but the latest in a series of on and off-the-record statements from Western diplomats, as well as editorials in influential Western publications, which imply that ElBaradei is exceeding his mandate as head of the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The claim is that ElBaradei should stick to verifying whether Iran is hiding work which could be used to make nuclear weapons and and not interfere with sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council to put pressure on Iran.

ElBaradei, a Nobel peace prize winner who prides himself on telling "truth to power," has defended himself vigorously against such charges, saying that his effort to pursue inspections with Iran, giving it a further chance to cooperate, is exactly what the Security Council has mandated him to do.

As for criticism that he should not speak out on the risk of pushing the crisis into an armed conflict, ElBaradei told reporters in Vienna Monday that talk of war "is a lot of hype."

"I will continue, I can promise you, to be a revolutionary by giving the truth in an objective and impartial manner," ElBaradei said.

The Security Council has levied two rounds of sanctions to get Iran to cease activities such as uranium enrichment, which makes fuel for civilian nuclear reactors but also atom bomb material.

ElBaradei was criticized by some for striking a new deal with Iran to cooperate on inspections, giving Tehran another chance even while it defies Security Council resolutions on enrichment.

The fear is that the IAEA timetable work plan could give Tehran room to avoid new UN sanctions, since Security Council permanent member Russia is certain to block any new measures while the inspections' cooperation continues.

Rice told reporters Tuesday while flying to the Middle East: "Let me just start with the fact that IAEA is not in the business of diplomacy."

"The IAEA role is to carry out the inspections, to report on activities, to make sure that various agreements that the states have agreed onto are indeed carried out," Rice said.

The crisis had escalated a notch when French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned Sunday of the possibility of war with a stubborn Iran.

William Potter, an analyst from the Monterey Institute in California, told AFP that "to assume someone of ElBaradei's stature and position does not have an agenda he seeks to promote would be not only surprising but regarded by most governments as inappropriate."

Potter said the United States had not objected when ElBaradei endorsed its nuclear deal with India, a mainly bilateral agreement which many criticized since India is not a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the treaty the IAEA is charged with verifying.

UN analyst Joe Cirincione, from the Center for American Progress think-tank in Washington, also pointed out that the United States had "no problem when ElBaradei supported the India deal."

"Now that he is trying to resolve the conflict with Iran suddenly they want him to shut up."

Cirincione said the United States was "embarrassed" that it did not have a direct line to the Iranians and "ElBaradei is showing that when you sit down and talk with Iran then compromise is possible."

And a diplomat close to the IAEA who asked not to be named noted that both the United States and France have supported ElBaradei's timetable plan, even while warning that Iran must give rapid and active cooperation.

But Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior analyst in London with the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), said ElBaradei was guilty of "taking the wind out of the sails of momentum of pressure on Iran, in terms of more sanctions."

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