UN nuclear chief hails Iran nuclear 'deal'

The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said today he hoped Iran would suspend its nuclear enrichment and reprocessing programmes following a tentative deal announced over the weekend between Tehran and France, Germany and Britain.

Speaking in Sydney, Australia, on the sidelines of an international conference on nuclear security, Mohamed ElBaradei called the agreement brokered over the weekend in Paris "a step in the right direction".

The United States and European powers fear Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear programme is for energy production.

Washington and Europe want Iran to halt all uranium enrichment activities, a technology that can be used to produce fuel or weapons, and have warned they would seek UN Security Council sanctions if Tehran does comply.

Months of intense diplomacy appeared close to bearing fruit over the weekend with the announcement of a preliminary agreement.