The international community on Saturday urged Iran to fully cooperate with UN nuclear watchdog after the agency voted to report the Iranian nuclear issue to the UN Security Council.

The 35-member governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted earlier on Saturday to report the Iran nuclear issue to the Security Council with three votes against and five abstentions.

The European Union's common foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana on Saturday welcomed the IAEA decision, saying it "sent a clear signal to Iran that it must comply with the demands of the international community to cooperate fully with the IAEA."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also said the IAEA vote sent a "clear message" to Iran.

"We hope the Iranian regime will heed this clear message. The world will not stand by if Iran continues on the path to a nuclear weapons capability," Rice said in a statement.

"The strong majority in favor of the resolution, representing all regions of the world, underscores the concern of the entire international community about Iran's nuclear program," she said.

China said that "there is still room for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue within the framework of the IAEA" after the decision to report the issue to the Security Council.

Chief of the Chinese Delegation Wu Hailong said in Vienna that the very purpose of the the decision is "to enable the Agency to better address the Iranian nuclear issue."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed the IAEA decision, calling it "a convincing outcome and a clear signal to Tehran that it must take account of the deep concern of the international community at the nuclear program. "

However, he stressed that bringing the issue to the UN did not mean the end of diplomacy. "On the contrary, the resolution consciously leaves space for a continuation of diplomatic efforts."

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw welcomed the IAEA resolution, describing it as "a significant improvement in the international consensus" since the last resolution in September 2005."

"However, Iran still has a crucial opportunity between now and the March IAEA Board to comply with this latest resolution by resuming full suspension of its enrichment related and reprocessing activities and taking the steps required to address all outstanding questions from the IAEA, " he said.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin urged Iran to cooperate fully with the IAEA to clarify remaining issues over its controversial nuclear program.

The IAEA decision offers opportunities for clarifying remaining issues over Iran's nuclear program, and Moscow expects Tehran to " show readiness for extremely serious cooperation," Kamynin said.

He reiterated Moscow's proposal for creating a joint venture to enrich Iran's uranium on Russian territory remained valid.

But, Javad Vaeedi, deputy head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said after the IAEA vote that the Russian proposal is no longer an option for Iran.

Speaking to the state television from Vienna, Austria, via phone, Javad Vaeedi said that under current circumstances, there was "no adequate reason" for Iran to consider the Russian proposal.

Vaeedi also said that Iran would resume industrial-scale uranium enrichment at the facilities in the central town of Natanze.

Meanwhile, Iranian representative Abbas Araghchi appealed to the international community to avoid double standards on its nuclear activities.

Speaking at the 42nd Munich Conference on Security Policy, Araghchi said Iran's nuclear facilities are open to international inspectors and every step of his country's nuclear program is clear.

He expressed his bewilderedness that a small scale of nuclear activity in Iran was considered a threat and hit headlines, while "other country (referring to Israel) in our region with more than 200 nuclear warheads and violations of the human rights of the Palestinians by occupying their land" was exempt of such accusation.

Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is designed to meet rising domestic demand for electricity and that it is fully peaceful.

According to the IAEA agenda, the Board of Governors will hold another meeting to discuss a full report on the Iranian nuclear issue, to be presented by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, and the meeting will then decide the next action.

Source: Xinhua