VIENNA, 23 November 2004 — Iran yesterday froze sensitive nuclear work including uranium enrichment in a move likely to thwart US efforts to report the Islamic state to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

The suspension was confirmed by Mohamed El-Baradei, head of the UN’s atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“I think pretty much everything has come to a halt right now,” El-Baradei told reporters in Vienna.

“We’re just trying to apply seals and make sure everything has been stopped,” he said.

Operations at the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan had also stopped, he said.

The suspension of processes that could be used to develop nuclear weapons came into effect yesterday — just three days ahead of a meeting of the IAEA board to discuss Iran’s case.

Washington accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons. It wants the IAEA board to refer Iran to the Security Council and sanctions imposed on Tehran for failing to disclose a range of nuclear work and facilities in the past.

But Iran — which says its nuclear program is geared entirely to electricity generation, not bombs — last week struck a deal with the European Union to avoid Security Council referral if it suspended all sensitive nuclear work.

Tehran has said that this suspension would be short-lived. However, El-Baradei urged the Iranians to maintain it for the duration of the IAEA inspection process.

“I think it’s in Iran’s interest to maintain the suspension while we are going through the (inspections), while we are trying to restore confidence that the program is for peaceful purposes,” he said.

The EU hopes to persuade Iran in the coming months to make the temporary suspension permanent by offering it a range of economic and political incentives.

But it may still refer Iran to the Security Council if it goes back on the deal, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said.

Washington is skeptical that Iran will stick to any deal and Iran says it will never abandon its nuclear program.

Skepticism about Iran’s intentions was heightened last week when Iranian exiles accused Tehran of running a secret enrichment plant and diplomats revealed that Iran had stepped up some uranium conversion activities just ahead of the suspension.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which in August 2002 revealed several hidden nuclear sites in Iran, said Iran’s Defense Ministry was enriching uranium at a site in the Lavizan district of northeast Tehran.

El-Baradei said the IAEA would only follow up on “credible information” and that it was “looking into” the issue. “There’s a big difference between doing robust verification and harassing a country,” he said.

Iran had produced around two tons of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) at its Isfahan plant, he said. The form of uranium is used in the enrichment process and two tons would not be enough for a weapon, he said.

Enrichment is a process of purifying uranium for use as fuel in atomic power plants or weapons.

Tehran had previously denied reports it had made UF6 and diplomats close to the EU-Iran talks said it raised doubts about Iran’s good faith.

IAEA inspectors currently in Iran are expected to verify that Iran has halted all such activities and to seal the facilities where they are carried out.

Iran agreed to suspend uranium enrichment in a deal similar to one it made with Britain, Germany and France in October 2003.