Iran's negotiations with the European Union over a deal which would spare Tehran from possible UN sanctions over its nuclear programme are in their final stages, Iran said on Saturday. "Negotiations with Europe were intense and important and they are in their final stages," Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi told state television. "We have given them our final response and await their final decision and we hope to pass this stage smoothly."
Iran and the European Union's big three powers - Britain, Germany and France - have been negotiating a deal for the past few weeks under which Tehran would agree to freeze sensitive nuclear work such as uranium enrichment.
In return, the EU would not support US calls for Iran's case to be sent to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions and would sit down with Iran to work out a lasting solution to the nuclear dispute.
Iran insists its nuclear ambitions are limited to generating electricity from atomic power plants, not making bombs.
Tehran gave its response to the EU deal on Thursday but there has been no announcement yet of a final agreement. EU diplomats say Iran has been trying to change some of the terms of the deal, including the scope of the enrichment suspension.
US President George W. Bush, who has labelled Iran an "axis of evil" member, on Friday gave public backing to the EU initiative to try to resolve the dispute through talks.
"We don't want Iran to have a nuclear weapon and we're working toward that end," Bush said at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the White House.
"And the truth of the matter is the prime minister gets a lot of credit for working with France and Germany to convince the Iranians to get rid of the processes that would enable them to develop a nuclear weapon."
The IAEA has delayed release of its of eagerly-awaited report summarising its two-year investigation of Iran to give the EU and Iran a chance to come to a final agreement.
"The stakes are very high on both sides," a Vienna-based Western diplomat who follows IAEA issues very closely told Reuters. The report was originally due Friday but will not likely reach Vienna diplomats until early next week.
The suspension of enrichment was demanded by the IAEA board of governors in September. Although the IAEA resolution called for an immediate freeze of all enrichment-related activities, Iran has continued producing centrifuge parts.
"They now have enough parts for 1100 to 1200 centrifuges," said one diplomat, adding that this was enough to make enough highly-enriched uranium for a weapon in two to three years.
Diplomats said IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei had told the Iranians that if the results of their negotiations with the EU were positive, he would be able to present a relatively upbeat report to the agency's 35-member board on November 25. Unlike previous reports, which were technical updates about the investigation, this report will cover the entire probe.
Diplomats said that ElBaradei plans to say that while he has found no evidence Tehran diverted resources or materials to a weapons programme, Iran's nuclear fuel production capabilities are suspiciously far ahead of the rest of its atomic programme.
Kharrazi said it was time for Iran's case to be closed. "We have done all we could to co-operate with the agency. Most of the questions are addressed now. There is nothing more Iran can do... We think it is time to close Iran's case with the agency," he said.