UN nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to endorse a statement by the European Union (EU) that calls for resumed talks with Iran over its nuclear issue.

The IAEA's 35-nation board of governors, meeting on Thursday, had "unanimous hope that the negotiation process could resume, taking into account, among different ideas, the Russian proposals," according to a draft statement submitted by EU's big three -- France, Britain and Germany.

However, the European Union reserves the right to call an emergency board meeting before the next scheduled gathering in March if "a report to the UN Security Council must be made," the statement warned.

IAEA's board of governors began a two-day meeting on Thursday to discuss the development of Iran's nuclear issue since it called on Tehran in September to cease all nuclear fuel work, cooperate with an IAEA investigation and return to talks with the EU.

Earlier, the United States and the EU had decided to postpone the referral of Tehran's nuclear issue to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

It was hoped that this would give Russia more time to persuade Tehran to accept a compromise plan, which would require Iran to transfer its uranium enrichment activities to Russia.

If accepted, the Russian plan would in theory deprive Iran of the conditions to produce weapons-grade nuclear fuels, thus easing the international anxiety over Tehran's nuclear program.

Washington and Brussels fear that Iran could use a civilian nuclear power program to hide covert development of atomic weapons, which Iran has denied.

(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2005)