Iran suspends key nuclear work, says IAEA

Iran on Monday froze sensitive nuclear work including uranium enrichment in a move likely to thwart US efforts to report the Islamic state t...

Iran on Monday froze sensitive nuclear work including uranium enrichment in a move likely to thwart US efforts to report the Islamic state to the UN Security Council for possible economic sanctions.

8216;8216;Today the whole enrichment process has been suspended,8217;8217; Iran8217;s Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told CNN. The suspension was confirmed by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN8217;s atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA.

8216;8216;I think pretty much everything has come to a halt right now. We8217;re just trying to apply seals and make sure everything has been stopped,8217;8217; ElBaradei told reporters in Vienna.

Operations at the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan had also stopped, ElBaradei said. IAEA inspectors are verifying the suspension and plan to confirm that it has been fully implemented at Thursday8217;s IAEA board of governors8217; meeting.

Kharrazi said Iran would review the suspension in three months.

8216;8216;If it was positive we can continue. Positive means we are arriving at some conclusions and the 8230; commitments made by the other side are going to be materialised,8217;8217; he said.

France, Britain and Germany, who spearheaded a European Union initiative to persuade Tehran to abandon uranium enrichment in exchange for economic and political incentives, circulated a draft resolution to be submitted to the IAEA board.

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The draft urges Iran to 8216;8216;sustain the suspension8217;8217; and says ElBaradei should 8216;8216;report immediately to the IAEA board should the agency encounter evidence that the suspension is not fully implemented, or be prevented from monitoring all elements of the suspension.8217;8217;

But the text, obtained by Reuters, makes no mention of punitive measures should Iran resume activities related to enrichment, a process that can be used to develop nuclear arms.

Washington accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons. It wants the IAEA board to refer Iran to the Security Council and sanctions imposed on Tehran for failing to disclose a range of nuclear work and facilities in the past.

A Western diplomat said the EU draft was too weak for the Americans, who want a 8220;trigger clause8221; that would call for a referral to the Security Council if Iran resumed its enrichment programme. White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters on Monday Washington was waiting for the IAEA report on the suspension at the board meeting on Thursday.

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Last week Iranian exiles accused Tehran of running a secret enrichment plant and diplomats said Iran had stepped up some uranium conversion activities. ElBaradei said the IAEA would only follow up on 8220;credible information8221; and that it was 8220;looking into8221; the issue. 8220;There8217;s a big difference between doing robust verification and harassing a country,8221; he said. 8212;Reuters