Iran nuclear negotiator meets Russia's Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday told Iran's top nuclear negotiator that the country's nuclear program should be transparent and remain under control of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

''We welcome the extension of your cooperation with the IAEA. We expect that your programs in the nuclear sphere will be open, transparent and be conducted under control of the authoritative international organization,'' Putin said at the end of a meeting with Saeed Jalili at the presidential residence on Moscow's outskirts.

Jalili met Putin a day after a US intelligence report said Tehran had put its nuclear weapons program on hold, contradicting the Bush administration view that Iran was actively seeking a bomb. Monday's assessment by the US National Intelligence Estimate said Tehran halted nuclear weapons development in late 2003 under international pressure.

Minutes before meeting Jalili near Moscow, the Russian leader had a 40-minute telephone conversation with US President George W. Bush in which they discussed Iran, a Putin aide said.

"We are pleased to note that your contacts with the International Atomic Energy Agency have become more active," Putin told Jalili in opening remarks at their meeting.

"We expect that all your nuclear program will be transparent and under the control of this respected organization."

The United States, France and Britain are pushing for a third round of UN sanctions against Iran .

Russia, which is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, says there is no evidence that Iran has sought to develop nuclear arms but it has tried to persuade Tehran to ease concerns over its nuclear program.

Russian newspaper reports suggested Moscow would seek to persuade Jalili of the need to make concessions to countries pressing for sanctions.

The Security Council has demanded Iran suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel for power plants or, potentially, nuclear weapons.

Jalili, echoing the views of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has vowed Iran will not retreat from its nuclear plans.

IAEA: US report consistent with our own

''Although Iran still needs to clarify some important aspects of its past and present nuclear activities, the agency has no concrete evidence of an ongoing nuclear weapons program or undeclared nuclear facilities in Iran,'' International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Mohamed ElBaradei said in a statement after the release of the US report.

ElBaradei, who was traveling in South America on Tuesday, said the new assessment ''should help to defuse the current crisis'' over Iran's suspect nuclear program and growing fears that Washington may be gearing up for a possible conflict with the Islamic republic.

''At the same time, it should prompt Iran to work actively with the IAEA to clarify specific aspects of its past and present nuclear program,'' he said. ''This would allow the agency to provide the required assurances regarding the nature of the program.''

Earlier Tuesday, a senior IAEA official said the US report ''validates the IAEA's statements over the past years that inspectors have found no concrete evidence of an undeclared nuclear weapons program in Iran.''

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the report also backs up ElBaradei's assertion that Iran's program represent no ''imminent danger'' and that there is ''ample time'' for negotiations.

Iran, however, still needs to clarify some important aspects of its nuclear program, the official said.