Iran on Sunday afternoon softened its stances on a uranium enrichment moratorium and a Russian nuclear compromise proposal, hours after an earlier rejection of them, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Iran is well-prepared to extend moratorium on uranium enrichment if an agreement was reached with respective states to that effect through negotiations with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi was quoted by IRNA as saying.

Meanwhile, the spokesman told state television that a Russian proposal aimed to defuse the current nuclear crisis is still negotiable if it takes Iran's right to enrich uranium on a research scale at home.

Asefi's comments showed a retraction from an statement he made several hours earlier that the Russian proposal would no longer be on the agenda of Tehran due to "change of the situation" and Tehran would also reject the requirement of re-suspending the enrichment-related activities, even made by the UN Security Council.

The hardline statement was soon criticized by Moscow as a move to "radicalize" a planned discussion of the Iranian nuclear issue at the UN Security Council.

Russia proposed last December that Iran transfer its uranium enrichment to the Russian territory, holding that the offer would secure Iran's legal nuclear rights while guaranteeing the peaceful use of the technology.

Iran had conditioned an acceptance of the offer on a permit of Iran's uranium enrichment on a small scale at home.

However, the United States and the European Union (EU), who had expressed readiness to accept the Russian plan, insisted that Iran could not be allowed to do any enrichment work.

Due to Iran's rejection of returning to a moratorium on its enrichment-related activities, the IAEA on Wednesday handed over its chief Mohamed ElBaradei's report on the Iranian nuclear issue to the UN Security Council soon after the agency's board of governors concluded a seasonal meeting.

Iran has denounced the involvement of the UN Security Council, vowing never to give in to pressures and bullies.

The IAEA in early February adopted a resolution to report Iran's case to the UN Security Council but called on the powerful UN body to withhold punitive actions until the meeting in March.

The resolution also urges Iran to suspend all work related to the enrichment and fully cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog.

However, Iran disallowed IAEA's snap inspections and resumed small-scale enrichment work in retaliation.

Source: Xinhua