While fending off accusations he had withheld evidence against Iran, ElBaradei told the International Atomic Energy Agency's board that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government was not cooperating with its investigations.

"There is stalemate," ElBaradei told the 35-member board of governors at the start of a week-long meeting.

"It is essential that Iran substantively re-engage with the agency to clarify and bring to closure all outstanding issues."

The Egyptian diplomat, who has been accused by the West of being too soft on Tehran, also charged that Iran was continuing to defy the UN Security Council in refusing to suspend uranium enrichment.

Enriched uranium is used to make both nuclear fuel and the fissile material for a nuclear bomb and the West accuses Tehran of seeking the bomb, a charge which the Islamic republic vehemently rejects.

"Likewise, Iran has not cooperated with the agency in connection with the remaining issues, detailed fully and completely in the agency's reports, which need to be clarified in order to exclude the possibility of there being military dimensions to Iran's nuclear programme," ElBaradei said.

He was referring to the so-called weaponisation studies, documents collected from a wide range of intelligence sources that suggest Iran was trying to develop a nuclear warhead, convert uranium and test high explosives and a missile re-entry vehicle.

As ElBaradei was speaking in Vienna, Ahmadinejad told a press conference in Tehran that he would continue cooperating with the IAEA.

Iran is also getting ready to announce new proposals to six major powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- for the basis of fresh talks with them over the nuclear programme.

"What we have announced is cooperation in two parts: cooperation on peaceful use of clean atomic energy and preventing a proliferation of atomic weapons," Ahmadinejad said.

But "if anyone wants to interfere in the nuclear programme beyond the law, that path is blocked," he warned.

"From our point of view the nuclear file does not exist.. but what exists is the file of animosity.

"We will not negotiate over Iran's undeniable rights," he added.

While Iran has dismissed the weaponisation studies as a US fabrication, ElBaradei says Iran has done little so far to disprove them.

The IAEA chief also rejected charges he was withholding key evidence on the alleged weaponisation studies.

"These allegations are politically motivated and totally baseless," he said. "Such attempts to influence the work of the secretariat and undermine its independence and objectivity are in violation ... of the IAEA statute and should cease forthwith," added ElBaradei, who steps down in November.

Last week, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner asked why ElBaradei refuses to provide the annexes of his latest report on Iran, in which he said "there are elements which enable us to ask questions about the reality of an atomic bomb," in particular on issues of warheads and transport.

And following ElBaradei's speech, France's foreign ministry again said the report was missing information that could help world powers assess whether Iran is close to building a nuclear bomb.

"France attended a technical briefing at the agency," foreign ministry spokeswoman Christine Pages said. "All of this information was not reflected in the report."

The public section of the document said Iran had slowed its production of enriched uranium and had agreed to closer monitoring of its enrichment plant.

World powers have threatened sanctions if negotiations on the Islamic republic's nuclear programme fail.

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