The UN atomic watchdog sharply reprimanded Iran on Saturday for withholding sensitive nuclear information, in a resolution that diplomats said left open the option of UN sanctions if Tehran did not co-operate.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rohani, angrily denounced the resolution by the International Atomic Energy (IAEA), telling the official IRNA news agency it was "like an ugly demon with dangerous horns and sharp teeth".
Iranian officials also acknowledged that expectation of the resolution was part of why they called an abrupt halt on Friday to UN inspections - a move the United States, which says Iran is trying to build an atomic bomb, called "very troubling".
The resolution by the IAEA Board of Governors "deplores" Iran's omissions of sensitive atomic technology from an October declaration - including undeclared research on advanced "P2" centrifuges that can make bomb-grade uranium.
It said the board would decide in June how to respond to the omissions - a clause that several diplomats said keeps the door open for a possible report to the UN Security Council and economic sanctions.
The passing of the resolution followed a week of intense haggling over a toughly-worded text drafted by Australia and Canada and backed by Washington. European and non-aligned states, Russia and China wanted milder wording.
A compromise was struck after the US-led camp agreed to soften some language, although US ambassador Kenneth Brill said it remained a strong warning to Tehran.
"This information calls for Iran to provide proactive co-operation instead of having information dragged out of it," he told reporters after the meeting.
'DECEPTION AND DELAY': In remarks prepared for delivery in the closed-door meeting, Brill said "Iran...is continuing to pursue a policy of denial, deception and delay."
"Is it possible that, even as we meet, squads of Iranian technicians are working at still undeclared sites to tile over, paint over, bury, burn or cart away incriminating evidence so that those sanitised locations can finally be identified to the agency as new evidence of Iran's full co-operation and transparency?" he asked.
The head of Iran's delegation dismissed the resolution as a result of US "diplomacy of force" and pressure on the IAEA.
"A resolution is being imposed...on the board by a single country," Amir Zamaninia, head of political affairs at Iran's foreign ministry, said in his own prepared remarks.
"It is...a setback, a serious setback."
Zamaninia told reporters the suspension of IAEA inspections was partly due to Iran's New Year's holiday that begins next week. "Another part is that this resolution was a bad one, a bad resolution," he said. "We need to work in Tehran to try to digest this."
On a more conciliatory note, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said Washington had had to compromise. "We hope that the remaining ambiguities are resolved and the situation becomes normal so that Iran can use this technology for peaceful purposes," he said.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei also voiced cautious optimism.
"I am pretty confident that Iran will understand that we need to go within (our) time schedule and that the decision to delay the inspections will be reviewed and reversed in the next few days," he said.
But Brill called the suspension "very troubling" and said he was concerned this could undermine the effectiveness of the checks once the IAEA returned to Iran.
The United States accuses Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons and systematically hiding evidence of research and development. Iran says its programme is for peaceful purposes only and notes it has accepted snap IAEA inspections.
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