International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei, the man who tried to influence the US election by “leaking” a false report on missing Iraqi explosives in the final days of the race, now advocates strong action to deal with nuclear proliferation.

He says we should cross our fingers and hope nothing happens. (Hat tip: Geepers.)

SYDNEY, Australia - The world is in a “race against time” to prevent nuclear weapons getting into the hands of terrorists, the chief of the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said Monday as he welcomed a preliminary agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.

Mohamed ElBaradei said the world was not ready to deal with a nuclear or radiological attack by terrorists and must hurry to strengthen international nonproliferation measures to prevent such a possibility.

Speaking on the sidelines of an international conference on nuclear security, ElBaradei also welcomed the tentative deal struck this weekend between three European powers and Iran aimed at suspending the Islamic republic’s nuclear enrichment and reprocessing programs.

He called the preliminary agreement brokered in Paris between Iran and France, Germany and Britain “a step in the right direction.”

The two-day conference under way in Sydney was aimed at building cooperation to boost security at nuclear facilities in the Asia-Pacific region to prevent terrorists from getting their hands on nuclear material.

“We are in a race against time because it is something we were not prepared for,” said ElBaradei, the director general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency. “We have to cross our fingers that nothing will happen.”