Tuesday, September 13 2005 10:55 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Vienna: Iran said yesterday (Sept 12, 2005) it would cooperate fully with UN atomic inspectors provided it was allowed to make nuclear fuel, according to a document presented yesterday to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in Vienna and obtained by sources.

The (IAEA) which has since February 2003 been investigating Iran's nuclear program, has called on Iran to stop fuel work in order to allay concerns that it is secretly developing atomic weapons and urged it to resume talks with the European Union.

The IAEA's 35-nation board of governors is to meet September 19, with the United States and the EU seeking to bring the Islamic Republic before the UN Security Council, which could impose penalties if Tehran persists in the fuel activities.

Iran "declares that it is determined to continue its full cooperation with the IAEA ... provided that Iran is not deprived from its inalienable rights for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including nuclear fuel cycle," Tehran said in the document.

Iran also said it had 'serious concerns about the misunderstandings, confusions, misperceptions' about Iran's nuclear program made by some nations, in an apparent reference to the United States and EU nations.

It was Iran's first detailed reaction to IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei's September 2 report, which said critical questions remained about Tehran's nuclear program.