The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Vienna

Iran has promised the U.N.'s chief nuclear inspector it will answer all remaining questions about its past nuclear activities within four weeks, including secret activities the U.S. suspects were linked to a weapons program, officials said Sunday.

The time limit was announced by the spokeswoman for Mohamed ElBaradei, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, at the end of his talks in Tehran with Iranian leaders.

Iran is under two sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions for its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment, a potential pathway to nuclear arms, and Washington is pushing for additional U.N. penalties.

In Abu Dhabi on Sunday, President Bush said Iran "defies the United Nations and destabilizes the region by refusing to be open and transparent about its nuclear programs and ambitions." Calling the country the "world's leading state sponsor of terror," he urged Arab nations to join with the U.S. to confront the danger "before it's too late."

But a recent U.S. intelligence assessment that it probably shut down a clandestine weapons program three years ago have led to increased resistance from permanent Security Council members Russia and China, which have strategic and trade ties with Iran.

The government in Tehran says it never worked on atomic weapons and wants to enrich uranium only to produce fuel for reactors that would generate electricity.