"An accord between Tehran and the Europeans seems imminent," a European diplomat said here on condition of anonymity.

"It could be reached even today (Tuesday)," he added.

Word of an accord comes less than a week before an important meeting of the board of governors of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on September 13.

The deal envisions a halt "to the production and assembly of centrifuges" of the P2 kind which is used to enrich uranium, according to the source.

"It could also extend to conversion tests", which are an integral part of uranium enrichment and on which Tehran had been intent, he added.

Britain, Germany and France have been negotiating with the aim of getting Iran to "fully suspend any uranium enrichment activities, including making any components for centrifuges," another Western diplomat told AFP.

Enriched uranium can be used to provide fuel for reactors as well as nuclear warheads.

The diplomat said the negotiations began three days ago and have moved between different European capitals.

"These discussions have been going on for three days between ambassadors from the countries concerned and with the participation of (IAEA Secretary General) Mohamed ElBaradei", he told AFP.

The Islamic republic this summer resumed the production of P2 centrifuges, in reaction to a critical resolution adopted by the IAEA board of governors after its last review of the Iran dossier in June.

At the beginning of September, Tehran also announced that it planned to convert 37 tonnes of "yellow cake" uranium into uranium hexafluoride gas, an element necessary for the enrichment of uranium in P2 centrifuges.

Nuclear experts have said that such a large amoung could in theory be used to make one or more nuclear missiles.

Hassan Rohani, Iran's top national security official, in high-level talks in the Netherlands -- the current holder of the EU presidency -- on Monday denied that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons but said it would not abandon its programme to develop nuclear power for civilian purposes.

"We've clearly told the European Union that Iran will never renounce its inalienable right to develop civilian nuclear technology but that we do not seek to develop an atomic bomb," Rowhani told Iranian state television from the Netherlands.

"We have stressed the solution to the problem of Iran's nuclear program is not pressure and threats but dialog."

The United States accuses Iran of trying to develop a nuclear bomb under cover of its nuclear power programme and has sought to have the IAEA refer Tehran to the Security Council for possible sanctions.

Tehran maintains that it is merely trying to produce enough cheap energy for its people.

Iran is a signatory to the NPT and in December 2003 signed the additional protocol, which allows tougher inspections by the IAEA. The Iranian parliament, now controlled by conservatives, has yet to ratify that protocol.

The treaties do not bind the country to renounce uranium enrichment, a process which is also part of civilian nuclear programmes.

But the country's insistence on mastering the enrichment cycle, have raised fears that its aims may be military.

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