Iran on Monday froze its sensitive nuclear work including uranium enrichment, the United Nations atomic watchdog IAEA said in Vienna.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed the suspension, a move likely to spoil US efforts to refer to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions against the Islamic republic.

"I think pretty much everything has come to a halt right now,"ElBaradei told reporters in the IAEA headquarters here.

"We're just trying to apply seals and make sure everything has been stopped," he said.

The top UN inspector welcomed Iran's announcement that it is suspending uranium enrichment activity from Monday as "a step in the right direction".

He said he was confident that Iran's weapons program is under control, but cautioned at the same time that there was still more work to be done.

Source: Xinhua