"We are very benevolent people and we do not want to create problems. We have declared that we will cooperate with all our strength with the IAEA," the president told reporters after a parliament meeting.

The IAEA last month threatened to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if it failed to satisfy suspicions it was concealing covert weapons development behind its civil energy programme by the end of October.

The Vienna-based agency has also urged Iran to unconditionally sign an additional protocol to the NPT, which would submit Iran to a tougher inspections regime.

But Khatami stuck by the assertion that signing the text needed to be negotiated, and that the IAEA needed to take into account "the general conditions for the respect of our honour, national security and national interests."

The head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, is to visit Iran on Thursday, 15 days before the deadline expires for Iran to dispel suspicions it is pursuing a nuclear weapons programme.

WAR.WIRE