The comments by Hassan Rowhani, made after talks with EU foreign ministers, came ahead of a crucial meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Thursday to rule on Iranian compliance with the UN agency.

"There is no justification, no reason to refer Iran's peaceful nuclear programme to the UNSC," Rowhani, the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council who is charged with the nuclear dossier, told reporters.

"We have no concerns whatsoever" that the IAEA might refer Iran to the Security Council, Rowhani added after meeting the foreign ministers of Britain and France and a senior German official in Brussels.

An IAEA report last week said that Iran has violated international nuclear safeguards but that there is so far no evidence it is trying to make an atomic bomb.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Iran had been "honest" in its nuclear dealings with the international community, and that he expected the IAEA to stop short of calling for the Security Council to rebuke the country.

The United States accuses Tehran of secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons and wants the issue to go to the Security Council, in a process that could lead to punitive sanctions.

The EU, which favours "constructive engagement" with Iran, has taken a softer line on the issue after the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany clinched a deal in Tehran last month for Iran to open up its nuclear sites to snap inspections by the IAEA.

In other key concessions, Iran pledged to the EU trio to come clean on its past nuclear activities and to suspend the enrichment of uranium.

After his talks with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, Rowhani said "Iran is committed to the agreement reached in Tehran".

EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten said after separate talks with the Iranian official: "Our expectation is that they will fulfill those obligations."

Rowhani said he underlined in his talks with the EU officials "the danger posed by Israel's weapons of mass destruction".

"We called on Europe to work with us to turn the Middle East into a zone free of weapons of mass destruction," he said, adding they also discussed regional issues including "Iraq and the potential for cooperation in Iraq."

Solana said of Iran: "They have been honest. Let's see if they continue all the way to the end.

"We still have some hurdles to pass, but we have passed some very important ones," he told reporters.

The resolution by the IAEA's board of governors on Thursday "will not be a report to the UN. That's my hope", the Spanish official added.

Led by Britain, France and Germany, most members of the 35-nation IAEA board oppose taking the issue to the Security Council as they want to reward Iran for cooperating with the atomic agency, diplomats say.

But Israel for one is seriously worried about Iran's nuclear programme, with the chief of the Mossad intelligence agency warning Monday that it represents "the biggest threat to Israel's existence since its creation" in

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