Iran MP says atom report positive, undermines U.S.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - A senior Iranian lawmaker said on Friday a report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog on Iran's atomic program was "positive" and would undermine a U.S. push for more U.N. sanctions, Iranian news agencies reported.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said in its report Iran had shown new openness about nuclear advances earlier off-limits to U.N. monitors but not enough to prove the program is not geared to making bombs.

Iran insists its program is entirely peaceful.

"In regards to the (IAEA) report ... about Iran's peaceful nuclear activities and the resolution of some unclear issues, the road will not be paved for the Americans to issue a new resolution against Iran in the (U.N.) Security Council," the head of the Iranian parliament's national security and foreign policy commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, was quoted as saying.

Boroujerdi, speaking before a news conference by Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, described the report as "positive", the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Issuing such (sanctions) resolutions not only has no technical and legal basis but also the Security Council should apologize to the Iranian nation because of its behavior and announce the end of studying Iran's nuclear issue," he was quoted by Fars News Agency as saying.

While the IAEA report painted a more positive picture of Iranian cooperation than before, it also confirmed Iran was testing technology that could give it the means to enrich uranium much faster.

Uranium enrichment is the part of Iran's program that the U.N. Security Council has demanded Iran stop because it can have both civilian and, potentially, military uses.

The IAEA findings, which also said Iran had failed to clear up all outstanding questions by an agreed February deadline, may be branded negative on balance by big powers and spur the U.N. Security Council to adopt more sanctions as early as next week.

(Reporting Zahra Hosseinian, writing by Edmund Blair)