VIENNA, Sept 13 (AFP) - UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Monday that there was no deadline for ending an investigation into Iran`s nuclear program, even though Iran said it expects the probe to wrap up in November.
"It`s an open process and we will finish when I believe we are finished," said ElBaradei, as he went into a meeting here of the UN`s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of which he is director general.
The United States says Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons, in defiance of the international community, and should be taken before the UN Security Council for punishing sanctions that will force it to give up its alleged nuclear ambitions.
The United States and Europe appeared close to agreement at the IAEA board of governors meeting over setting a deadline for Iran to allay suspicions that it is secretly making atomic weapons.
Britain, France and Germany are ready to set a November deadline for Iran to respond to concern about its nuclear program, in a draft resolution that brings the so-called Euro 3 closer to Washington`s hard line, diplomats told AFP.
The 35-nation board decides on when the investigation will end but ElBaradei, who issues a lengthy report before each board meeting, said it would take cooperation by Iran and cooperation from countries that were points of origin for supplies to Iran to bring the inquest to a close.
"On the assumption that everybody will give us a hand, I would like to see some of these issues clarified by the end of the year," ElBaradei told reporters.
But Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and that it has answered all the IAEA`s questions.
It sees a November deadline as a chance for Iran to be released from the now 19-month-old IAEA investigation.
The head of the Iranian delegation to the IAEA meeting said his country expected the probe to be wrapped up in November and for Iran to then be under only routine monitoring under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
"I believe that in November everything should be finalized," Hossein Mousavian said.
He said the Iranian file "should be closed and go to the normal way (routine monitoring) and be followed up with safeguards," under the NPT.
Mousavian said Iran would maintain the suspension of uranium enirchment, one of the confidence-building measures that both Europe`s big three and the United States insist on along with not making or buying the centrifuges that refine uranium into what can be fuel for reactors or material for atomic bombs.
But Mousavian said Iran would go ahead with plans to carry out the first step of the nuclear fuel cycle, namely converting uranium yellowcake mineral into the uranium hexafluoride gas that is the feedstock for enriching uranium.
"Iran has taken all the confidence-building measures necessary," said Mousavian.
"This cannot go on forever," he said. Iran insists it has the right to enrich uranium under the NPT.
As the meeting started, differences remained between the so-called Euro 3 and the United States over how to confront Iran.
"We`re still in negotiations with the Europeans. The jury is still out," a US official said at the weekend.
The official said the resolution "needs to be a little clearer on what Iran needs to do" as such deadlines have in the past failed to force Iran to provide full information.
The resolution does not oblige the IAEA to take any specific action, falling short of US demands for a so-called "trigger mechanism" that would oblige the agency to take Iran before the UN Security Council for possible sanctions if certain conditions were not met, a diplomat familiar with the text told AFP.
The Euro 3 had previously resisted setting any time limit on their policy of constructive engagement to get Iran to cooperate in the investigation.
But Iran has, since reaching an agreement last October with the Euro 3 not to enrich uranium, backtracked on some promises made, including a promise to suspend manufacturing the centrifuges that do the enrichment.