Monday, March 6 2006 11:49 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Vienna: Iran said ahead of today's(Mar 6,2006) meeting of the UN atomic watchdog, which could clear the way for possible sanctions, that it was open to compromise on its nuclear programme, but also girding for confrontation.

"We are here to find a compromise which means we have to calm things down," Javad Vaidi, head of Iran's delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told sources yesterday, the eve of a critical meeting of the IAEA's board of governors regarding Iran's disputed nuclear activities.

"In our part of the world, those who know how to fight also know how to make peace," added Vaidi, who is also a member of Iran's supreme council for national security.

Vaidi said his country did not seek an escalation of tensions.

"We want to avoid the UN Security Council," which has the authority to impose economic sanctions against Iran.

The IAEA's 35-nation board reported Iran on February 4 to the Security Council as being in possible violation of IAEA calls to halt uranium enrichment which can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons and to comply with UN inspectors.

But Vaidi warned that Iran was prepared for the worst, and would not back down if confronted with economic sanctions.

"Our case being reported to the Security Council is not the end of the world, but it would represent the triggering by the West of a process of confrontation," Vaidi said.

"This would be harmful to our interests, but to theirs as well it is not in anyone's interest to turn this into an uncontrollable situation," he added.