Tuesday, February 7 2006 10:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Vienna (Austria): Iran has told the UN watchdog agency to remove surveillance cameras and agency seals by the end of next week and immediately cut back suspected nuclear site inspections, in response to referral to the UN Security Council, the agency said.

In a confidential report to the IAEA's 35-member board, agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran announced a sharp reduction in the number, and kinds, of inspections IAEA experts will be allowed, effective immediately.

The report, of which AP has a copy, was dated Monday. Iranian officials had repeatedly warned they would stop honouring the so-called 'Additional Protocol' to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treat an agreement giving IAEA inspectors greater inspecting authority if the IAEA board referred their country to the Council.

A diplomat close to IAEA told AP that Iran had also moved forward on another threat - formally setting a date for resuming full-scale work on its uranium enrichment programme.

The diplomat refused to divulge the date set by Ali Larijani in a letter received yesterday by ElBaradei.

In his brief report, ElBaradei cited E Khalilipour, vice- president of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, as saying: "From the date of this letter, all voluntarily suspended non-legally binding measures including the provisions of the Additional Protocol and even beyond that will be suspended."

Calling on the agency to sharply reduce the number of inspectors in Iran, Khalilipour added "All the Agency's containment and surveillance measures which were in place beyond the normal Agency safeguards measures should be removed by mid-February 2006."