Iran has moved to soothe fears it might follow North Korea and withdraw from an international treaty intended to halt the spread of nuclear arms.
Tehran, accused by Washington of secretly developing the capacity to produce nuclear weapons, also said today it would go ahead with talks with the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) on a protocol permitting snap, short notice inspections.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Akbar Salehi, walked out of an IAEA board session on Friday after a tough, US-backed resolution giving Tehran until October 31 to give full details of its nuclear plans.
Over the weekend, Germany's Der Spiegel magazine published an interview with Salehi in which he said Tehran could leave the IAEA and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
But the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation told delegates from the IAEA's 136 member countries that Tehran had no intentions of withdrawing from the 1968 pact.
"Iran is fully committed to its NPT responsibilities, not only because of its contractual obligations, but also because of its religious and ethical considerations," said Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who is also a vice president.
Washington, which labelled Iran a member of an axis of evil with North Korea and pre-war Iraq, lobbied hard to get the tough IAEA resolution passed.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has urged Iran to meet the October 31 deadline so that the IAEA could give the world assurances that Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful as Tehran says it is.
The IAEA's recent discovery of bomb-grade uranium in Iran spurred fears Tehran has been secretly purifying uranium for use in an atomic weapon. Iran rejects this charge, blaming the IAEA finding on contaminated components purchased abroad.