UN partly clears Iran on nuke issue

The UN nuclear watchdog partly cleared Iran yesterday of charges it tried to make a nuclear bomb, a day after Tehran promised Europe it would freeze what critics said was an atomic weapons programme.

Diplomats said this was a clear victory for Iran and would make it tough for Washington to force the United Nations' agency to refer Tehran's case to the UN Security Council this month.

But the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) did not dismiss the US view that Tehran is secretly developing nuclear weapons, saying it could not rule out covert activities in Iran.

In a bid to ease international concern about its nuclear ambitions, Iran said it would stop converting uranium from Monday. Tehran promised the IAEA it would suspend all uranium enrichment and processing activities as part of a deal with the European Union to avert any UN Security Council sanctions.

"All the declared nuclear material in Iran has been accounted for, and therefore such material is not diverted to prohibited activities," the IAEA report said, language which diplomats said clearly referred to possible work on weapons.

"The Agency is, however, not in a position to conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran," the report said.

Oil-rich Iran insists its nuclear programme is aimed at the peaceful generation of electricity.

The IAEA acknowledged that its legal authority to investigate activities directly related to atomic bomb-making was limited. Its report said the agency's chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, would only issue future reports on its investigation of Iran "as appropriate".