Iran gives written response to IAEA

However the official refused to confirm or deny that the letter announced a resumption in production of centrifuges used for uranium enrichment, despite a three-month-old deal with the Europeans to halt such work.

"Hassan Rowhani has sent a letter to the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain as well as to (IAEA chief) Mohamed ElBaradei", Hamid Reza Asefi told AFP.

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He added only that the message from Rowhani, head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and top nuclear negotiator, "outlined Iran's point of view on nuclear technology and its use."

In Washington Thursday, John Bolton, US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said the announcement was a direct violation of Iranian pledges to the three European powers and proof of Iran's intent to reprocess uranium as part of a covert nuclear weapons programme.

"This is an act of defiance of the IAEA board of governors, it is a thumb in the eye of the international community," Bolton told the international relations committee of the US House of Representatives.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is directed solely towards generating electricity.

But a week ago the IAEA adopted a resolution sponsored by the EU three that criticised the clerical regime for failing to live up to its pledges of total cooperation with the Vienna-based watchdog.