VIENNA, March 6 (UPI) -- The 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency began meeting in Vienna Monday to discuss the controversy over Iran's nuclear program.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog's chief, Mohammed ElBaradei, submitted a report on the situation that said Iran is expanding its uranium enrichment program, a process that can be used to create material for nuclear weapons.
Before the meeting, ElBaradei said he had hopes ongoing diplomacy between Russia, Europe and Iran could prevent an escalation at the U.N. Security Council, CNN reported.
Sunday, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said his country would resume large-scale nuclear enrichment if the IAEA sends the Islamic republic to the Security Council.
Iran has resumed enrichment on a small scale at its Natanz research facility, testing an array of 20 centrifuges, the IAEA report said. Thousands of centrifuges are required to produce enough enriched uranium to be useful.
Iran insists its research is strictly peaceful and is for meeting a growing need for electricity.
