March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Iran is cooperating with United Nations authorities on the resumption of international inspections of its nuclear facilities, the agency's top official said.

Inspections are to resume March 27. Tehran suspended them for two weeks after a UN resolution March 13 criticized Iran for failing to disclose uranium enrichment facilities. The U.S. suspects Iran is developing nuclear weapons, though Tehran insists its nuclear equipment is for electricity generation.

``Iran is cooperating fully,'' Mohamed ElBaradei, the UN's director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told reporters after meeting with President George W. Bush at the White House. ``We expect full cooperation, full transparency by Iran, if Iran wants to prove that its program is for peaceful purposes.''

Iran presented an inventory of its nuclear program to the IAEA in November after the U.S. sought UN sanctions against Iran if the country didn't agree to tougher inspections. The U.S. alleged Iran had a nuclear weapons program in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Iran agreed in December to stepped-up verification of its nuclear program by the IAEA.

ElBaredei said he met with Bush for about 45 minutes. He said Bush ``expressed concern about the nature of the program'' in Iran. ``I told him it's still a work in progress'' and ``that we haven't come to any conclusions,'' ElBaredei said of the inspections.

He said he will be submitting a report to the UN in June, when ``we'll be in a better position'' to draw conclusions.

Bush and ElBaredei also discussed about steps needed to strengthen the nuclear proliferation treaty and tighten export controls to reduce the number of nations with access to nuclear weapons.

To contact the reporter on this story: Roger Runningen at rrunningen@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 17, 2004 17:12 EST