China hopes Iran to resume suspension of nuclear research and development activities and resume talks with the European Union (EU) as soon as possible, chief of Chinese delegation Wu Hailong said in Vienna on Thursday.

"The Chinese side hopes that Iran will resume suspension of its nuclear fuel R&D activities and resume negotiations with the European side as soon as possible," Wu addressed the extraordinary meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

To begin with, Wu said the IAEA's update brief points out that Iran has continued to facilitate IAEA safeguards and verification activities and provide access to relevant information according to its Safeguards Agreement and the Additional Protocol.

"The Chinese side encourages Iran to continue its full cooperation with the Agency (IAEA) so as to increase confidence of the international community in its peaceful nuclear activities," he said.

WU called for an early and proper resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue through negotiation and by diplomatic means.

"Although the process of negotiation has encountered some difficulties, the relevant parties must not give up their diplomatic efforts. So long as there is hope, no matter how slim it might be, we have to work with redoubled or even quadrupled efforts," he said.

He said the Chinese side believes that there is still room for resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue within the framework of the IAEA.

"We also hope that other relevant parties will maintain calm, restraint and patience, demonstrate flexibility and avoid escalation so as to create necessary atmosphere and condition for resumption of negotiation between E3 and Iran," he said.

"The Chinese side will maintain close communication and coordination with all parties in a joint effort for an early and proper resolution of the issues," he added.

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IAEA Board of Governors debates on Iran's nuclear issue

The extraordinary meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, which opened in Vienna on Thursday, held a debate on the Iran nuclear issue for the whole day, reaching no consensus on the issue.

The debate focused on whether or not to adopt a draft resolution, tabled Wednesday by France, Germany and Britain, urging to report the Iran nuclear issue to the UN Security Council.

The draft resolution asks Iran to take various confidence building steps on its peaceful nature of nuclear program.

The steps include: to "re-establish full and suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities," including research and development; to "reconsider the construction of a research reactor moderated by heavy water."

The draft resolution requests the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to "report to" the UN Security Council these steps required of Iran.

Speaking to the meeting, the U.S. representative accused Iran of ignoring or defying "all" eighth resolution on Iran adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors, calling on the meeting to adopt the draft resolution tabled by the EU-3.

"It is time to send a clear and unequivocal message to the Iranian regime about the concerns of the international community by reporting this issue to the Security Council," the diplomat said.

The representative said the move is not to "seek sanctions" on Iran or to deprive Iran of its right to nuclear energy for peaceful purpose, but or other punitive measures on Iran", but to support the ongoing efforts of the IAEA "with the weight of the Security Council's authority."

A German representative strongly made the same call on behalf of the European Union (EU) as a whole.

"This is not a dispute between Iran and Europe - this is an issue between Iran and the whole international community represented in this Board," the representative said, adding that "this is not about abandoning diplomatic efforts, - this is about solving a problem within the multilateral system and by peaceful means."

"This is not about the IAEA transferring its responsibility to the Security Council, - this is about the credibility of the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty), the strengthening of the international non-proliferation system and the authority of the IAEA and its decisions," he went on.

"The ball is again in Iran's court," he said, calling on Iran to create the conditions for the resumption of negotiation.

Russian ambassador to the IAEA Grigory Berdennikor told the press that Russia does not object to reporting the Iran nuclear issue to the UN Security Council.

However, the ambassador said Russia would not "ask the UN Security Council to undertake any action" if Iran continues to cooperation with the IAEA.

Chief of the Chinese delegation Wu Hailong also presented China's view on the issue.

"The Chinese side encourages Iran to continue its full cooperation with the Agency (IAEA) so as to increase confidence of the international community in its peaceful nuclear activities," he said.

"Although the process of negotiation has encountered some difficulties, the relevant parties must not give up their diplomatic efforts. So long as there is hope, no matter how slim it might be, we have to work with redoubled or even quadrupled efforts," he said.

He said the Chinese side believes that there is still room for resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue within the framework of the IAEA.

"The Chinese side hopes that Iran will resume suspension of its nuclear fuel R&D activities and resume negotiations with the European side as soon as possible," Wu said.

"We also hope that other relevant parties will maintain calm, restraint and patience, demonstrate flexibility and avoid escalation so as to create necessary atmosphere and condition for resumption of negotiation between E3 and Iran," he said.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said at the midday that" there is still a window of opportunity" for the IAEA Board of Governors to explore a solution to the Iran nuclear issue.

The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog urged Iran to take confidence-building measures like resuming suspension of all nuclear R & D activities, and conduct full cooperation with the IAEA.

On Thursday afternoon, Iran, backed up by the Non-aligned Movement countries within the Board, fought back to tell the other side of the coin.

Iranian ambassador to the IAEA A.A. Soltanieh warned that Iran would suspend all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA if the Iran nuclear issue is referred or reported to the UN Security Council.

"If however a historical mistake is made by some member of the Board of Governors in sending the Iran's nuclear issue to the United Nations Security Council, ...... the Government of Islamic Republic of Iran has to implement the law passed almost by consensus, to the effect that it has to suspend all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA," Soltanieh addressed the meeting.

The ambassador said developing nuclear weapon is not Iran's option and it will continue its full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

However, he said that Iran still has "inalienable right" for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including "nuclear fuel cycle and research and development."

Malaysian ambassador to the IAEA Rajmah Hussain, who spoke on behalf of the NAM, said that it is "premature" for the Board to make a decision on Iran as ElBaradei is still "investigating outstanding issues" of Iran for the March Board meeting.

"NAM strongly believes that diplomacy and dialogue through peaceful means must continue to find a long-term solution to the problem," he said.

The ambassador called on all parties to "exercise patience and restraint", and not to "resort to any action which may escalate into a tense situation and create unnecessary confrontation."

Due to sharp difference among the 35-member Board of Governors, the extraordinary meeting, which was originally arranged only one day, was extended to at least another day.

Vienna-based diplomat told Xinhua that the meeting would adjourn on Friday morning for various parties to conduct more consultations, and the meeting is expected to re-start at 15:00 pm local time (14:00 GMT).

According to the IAEA rules, merely a simple majority is needed when adopting a resolution at the Board of Governors.

However, diplomats said the EU-3 want a unanimous adoption of its draft resolution or at least an overwhelming majority, in a bid to push more pressure on Iran.

Iran threatens to end cooperation with IAEA if reported to UN Security Council

Iran will suspend all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA if its nuclear issue is reported to the UN Security Council, the Iranian ambassador to the IAEA, A.A. Soltanieh said in Vienna on Thursday.

"If however a historical mistake is made by some member of the Board of Governors in sending the Iran's nuclear issue to the United Nations Security Council, ...... the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has to implement the law passed almost by consensus, to the effect that it has to suspend all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA," Soltanieh said.

Speaking to the extraordinary meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors, which opened Thursday morning, the ambassador asked the meeting not to adopt the draft resolution submitted by the European Union (EU), which demands that it report the Iran issue to the UN top decision-making body.

The ambassador said that the development of nuclear weapons is not Iran's intention and it will continue its full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

However, he said that Iran still has the "inalienable right" to peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including "nuclear fuel cycle and research and development."

EU favors diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear crisis

The European Union favored a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis in Iran and expected the country not to be ambivalent in developing its nuclear energy, a top official of European Union Counter-Terrorism told Xinhua Thursday.

Co-ordinator Gijs M. de Vries said that a peaceful solution could be reached if the country would like to say it would use the energy for peaceful purpose only.

"We would like to see a diplomatic solution. If Iran is unambiguous, then we can make a progress," Vries said.

"If Iran does not agree (to develop the nuclear energy for peaceful purpose), we will have a real serious problem, it is extremely dangerous for the people of Iran and the people of the region," he said.

Regarding the decision of permanent member countries of the United Nations Security Council and Germany on Tuesday to bring the problem to the council meeting in March, Vries said that it was one step in a diplomatic process.

"I think we should not be focusing much on the precise process. The real question is about the intention of the Iranians. But if Iran does not want bombs, then we can find the solution. The Iranians must choose what they should choose for their country," he said.

However, the coordinator said that the country had been ambivalent, unclear about what it wanted to do.

"If Iran wants only nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, the world is ready to help it. Russia is ready to help it, the Russians have made an offer," said Vries.

The Russian government has offered Iran to enrich its uranium in Russia and Indonesia has asked Iran to accept the offer so as to prevent a suspicion from western countries that Iran develops the energy for military purposes.

On Wednesday, Iranian Ambassador to Indonesia Shaban Shahidi Moadab said that western countries' stand were inconsistent on the Iranian nuclear program.

He said the countries, which promised to build 20 nuclear reactors during the leadership of Syah Iran, change their stance because of the change of Iran's political situation.

Uranium enrichment is essence of nuclear energy: Iranian president

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that uranium enrichment was the essence of nuclear energy which Iran cannot give up, the official IRNA news agency reported.

"The essence of nuclear energy is the same as enrichment. Today, an International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) official said there is no need for uranium enrichment in Iran," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in the southern province of Bushehr.

Ahmadinejad was referring to the IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, who earlier in the day acknowledged Iran's right to access to peaceful nuclear technology but called on the Islamic Republic to suspend enrichment and other nuclear fuel work to build confidence.

Ahmadinejad further vowed that Iran will continue their efforts to restore their legitimate rights and will not yield.

The IAEA's 35-nation board of governors kicked off a two-day emergency meeting on Thursday in Vienna, Austria to discuss a resolution drafted by the European Union (EU) on the Iranian nuclear issue.

The draft resolution demands Iran to take various confidence building steps and requests ElBaradei to "report to" the UN Security Council these steps required of Iran.

Iran has said that there was no difference between reporting and referring of its nuclear case to the Security Council, warning that either will be followed by Iran's retaliating moves such as resuming uranium enrichment and curtailing snap inspections of the IAEA in its nuclear facilities.

The Iranian ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh restated in a written statement to the IAEA's board of governors that Iran will suspend all voluntary cooperation with the IAEA if the country's file went to the UN Security Council.

Meanwhile, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani also sent a letter to ElBaradei to reinforce the threat.

The stepped-up tension over Iran's nuclear program came after Tehran defiantly resumed nuclear fuel research work on Jan. 10 and virtually rejected a Russian proposal to transfer its highly sensitive uranium enrichment program to Russia.

In response to Iran's move, the European trio of Britain, France and Germany, who long negotiated with Iran over the nuclear case, called for the IAEA's emergency meeting on Thursday.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China - and Germany agreed on late Monday in London that the meeting should report the developments of the case to the Security Council.

Iran has repeatedly threatened that it will suspend voluntary cooperative measures, including suspension of uranium enrichment and the implementation of the additional protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty according to a law ratified late last year.
Uranium enrichment is the key step for building nuclear fuel cycle, and highly enriched uranium can be used as material for nuclear weapons.

The United States has accused Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons and the EU has asserted that Iran's full mastery of nuclear fuel cycle technology would possibly lead to military usage.
But Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is designed to meet rising domestic demand for electricity and that it is fully peaceful.