In a written statement to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Sunday, Iran announced it would suspend "nearly all" of its uranium enrichment-related activities. 

The announcement, made during follow-up talks with the European Union's "Big Three" of France, Germany and Britain, which started on Saturday, was Teheran's latest goodwill gesture towards its controversial nuclear program following a provisional agreement with them last weekend.

In the provisional accord, Iran agreed to cease all nuclear fuel enrichment and reprocessing activities until it concludes a wider-ranging deal with them that would allow Teheran to receive economic, technological and security compensation in return for it abandoning uranium enrichment allegedly related to weapons.

Iran's latest announcement has basically satisfied the demands of the IAEA and the European Union.

Thus, it will resolve a long-standing concern among the international community that the country's nuclear program will be submitted to the UN Security Council, which would most likely lead UN sanctions against Iran.

The United States has for a long time pushed for the settlement of the nuclear issue in the UN Security Council.

The EU countries have been engaged in tough negotiations with Iran since October in a bid to convince the latter to keep in line with demands from the IAEA and threatened to back the US stance if Teheran does otherwise.

In a resolution adopted on September 18, the IAEA set a deadline of November 25, when the agency's 35-nation board of governors said that Teheran should stop uranium enrichment and clear its nuclear program.

Iran's referral to the UN Security Council would be another big breach of the basic principle, following Iraq's case, that it is the IAEA, not the Security Council, that serves as the biggest authority in solving nuclear disputes worldwide.

The latest announcement by Iran has undoubtedly further reduced some countries' misgivings towards Teheran's repeated stance that it has no intentions of developing nuclear programs for non-civilian purposes.

It has also clearly shown that the international community's efforts to peacefully solve Iran's nuclear program are paying off.

Hopefully, this step will herald a bright future.

(China Daily November 16, 2004)