Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei presented a report on Friday, saying the Iranian government has improved its cooperation with the IAEA on its nuclear issue but still needs to do more to clarify its nuclear plans.

The report, presented to the 35 members of the IAEA governing board in Vienna, said Iran is still denying access to sensitive sites and information of its nuclear plans, officials close to the UN watchdog said.

"Iran's full transparency is indispensable and overdue," the report said.

The IAEA has been given nuclear documents that Iran got from people linked to the black market set up by Abdul Kadir Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, it said.

The report urged Iran to provide more information and documentation related to the procurement of dual use equipment and allow visits to locations linked to sites such as Lavizan, which was closed before IAEA inspectors could go there.

The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, a charge rejected by Tehran as politically motivated.

The European Union has rejected a Russian proposal for talks with Iran in Moscow due to Teheran's resumption of uranium conversion in its Isfahan plant.

The governing board of the IAEA is to meet on Nov. 24 in Vienna for renewed discussions of Iran's nuclear policies, including whether the case should be brought before the UN Security Council.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said earlier that he assumed ElBaradei would deliver a "rational and clear report" on Iran because the IAEA was "taking positive steps" recently on the Iranian nuclear issue.

However, Larijani warned that Iran would "resort to other means "if the EU "wants to waste opportunities" by prompting a resolution against Iran at the IAEA meeting.

Iran resumed uranium conversion activities, a preparatory step for uranium enrichment, in early August, a move that scuttled nuclear negotiations with the EU which started after Tehran suspended all activities related to uranium enrichment in November 2004.

In response, the IAEA in late September urged Tehran to re-suspend all enrichment-related activities in a EU-drafted resolution, saying Iran's refusal will risk a referral of its case to the UN Security Council.

Source: Xinhua