Vladimir Pekhtin, vice speaker of the lower house of parliament,the State Duma, also urged Tehran to continue its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and honor all its commitments.

"The IAEA is staffed with nuclear energy professionals, who areable to provide a qualified assessment of the end purpose of Iran's nuclear program," Pekhtin said, quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency.

Pekhtin spoke a day after the IAEA wrapped up its meeting in Vienna, at which the agency's 35-nation board of governors discussed IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei's latest report on Iran's nuclear program.

ElBaradei's report says the IAEA has no proof that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, but at the same time, it dose not rule out the possibility of clandestine nuclear activities due to insufficient information.

Following the IAEA meeting, the UN Security Council's five permanent members held closed consultations on the approach the powerful organ would take in handling the crisis over Iran's disputed nuclear program.

The IAEA's board of governors decided in a Feb. 4 resolution toreport Iran's controversial nuclear plan to the Security Council after its meeting in early March. UN officials said council members had received ElBaradei's report.

"In the course of further negotiations, all sides concerned should exert political and diplomatic efforts to reach a compromise on the problem of Iran's nuclear program," Pekhtin said.