IAEA urges Iran to freeze N-activities

The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors expressed "serious concern" Thursday over Tehran's decision to resume uranium conversion, stopping well short of reporting the regime to the UN Security Council.

In a resolution adopted after three days of intense negotiations, the board urged Iran to put its latest nuclear activities on hold to reassure the United States and others that it is not concealing a weapons programme.

But the implicit message to the Iranians was clear: Give negotiations a chance to defuse the crisis.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said he was "optimistic that we will continue on the path of dialogue." Britain which along with France and Germany has led a European effort to entice Tehran with economic and political incentives instead of threats said it still hoped "there is a non-confrontational way forward if Iran wants to take it."

Iran, which insists its nuclear program is peaceful and geared only toward generating electricity, responded with indignation.

Sirus Nasseri, the country's chief delegate to the Vienna-based IAEA, defiantly declared that his country would be a "nuclear fuel producer and supplier within a decade" and dismissed the resolution as an attempt "to apply pressure."

"This resolution is political," said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, according to the state-run news agency. "It comes from American pressure. ... It lacks any legal or logical basis and is unacceptable."

Diplomats speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the proceedings publicly said Tehran faced a Sept. 3 deadline to stop or face another possible referral to the Security Council, which has the power to impose crippling sanctions.