The International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors expressed "serious concern" on Thursday over Iran's decision to resume uranium conversion but stopped short of referring the issue to the UN Security Council.

The agency's restrained response made it clear that the West wants to give diplomacy more time to defuse the new round of tension triggered by Iran's unilateral move earlier this week.

However, a Vienna-based diplomat said Iran and the European Union (EU) need more sincerity and patience in the future to bridge their differences.

The IAEA started meeting at its headquarters on Tuesday but adjourned to allow member states time to hold backstage meetings on the text of a resolution.

The 35-nation board was divided. The EU believed that Iran had violated the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) while non-aligned states questioned the opinion, arguing that Iran's suspension of uranium enrichment last November was voluntary. At the same time, several countries insisted that the UN Security Council be involved.

China's UN Ambassador in Vienna Wu Hailong called on the concerned parties to continue negotiations with patience, pragmatism and flexibility till reaching a solution acceptable to all sides.

He warned against actions that would further complicate the situation.

Malaysian Ambassador Rajmah Hussein, speaking for the Non-Aligned Movement, urged the Europeans and Iran to continue with their dialogue and said verification issues "should be resolved solely within the framework of the IAEA."

After three days of intense negotiations, the board approved the resolution urging Iran to suspend all nuclear fuel-related activities without mentioning the Security Council for fear that such a move could backfire.

IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei was requested to provide a comprehensive report on the implementation of Iran's NPT Safeguards Agreement and the resolution by Sept. 3, 2005.

Iran, which insists that its nuclear program is peaceful and geared only toward generating electricity, responded with indignation.

"This resolution is politically motivated and has been approved under the pressures of the United States and its allies and is void of any legal or rational basis, and (therefore it) is unacceptable," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said.

Although Iran remained defiant, its senior nuclear negotiator Cyrus Nasseri said in Vienna that the country still keeps the door open for negotiations.

Tehran voluntarily halted all sensitive atomic work at a conversion facility in Isfahan, 400 km south of the capital, in November 2004 after reaching a deal, called the Paris Agreement, with the EU trio of Britain, France and Germany.

But earlier this week, Iran rejected the EU's offer of political and economic incentives if it permanently abandoned enriched uranium fuel production, calling the offer "an insult to the Iranian nation for which the EU3 must apologize."

On Wednesday, Tehran completely removed IAEA seals at the Isfahan facility where UN nuclear inspectors installed surveillance cameras.

Since the late 1950s, Iran has invested hundreds of millions of US dollars in its nuclear program and set up six research centers and five uranium conversion facilities.

Regarding the nuclear technology as a national pride, Gholamreza Aghazadeh, head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, said this week in Tehran that the West must accept the reality that Iran is a nuclear energy country.

On the other side, the EU countries, while deeply worried about Iran's nuclear ambition, are unwilling to see Iran's nuclear issue further complicated.

Under the NPT, Iran may process and enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. However, the EU trio says the only way to prove peaceful intentions is to renounce all technology that could be used to make atom bombs.

The IAEA board's next regular meeting is slated for Sept. 19, but members can call emergency meetings at any time.

Analysts said that although the standoff was temporarily eased, it is hard for the EU and Iran to reach compromises in the short term and finding a solution will be a long and volatile process.

They did not rule out the possibility that the issue will be referred to the Security Council if the situation aggravates.

Source: Xinhua