Gholam Reza Aghazadeh told state television that "the experimental phase of the Isfahan processing installation has begun and by the end of this phase, in the next 20 days, experimental production at this facility will start."

"The uranium processing plant in Isfahan will produce all raw materials for the fuel cycle," he added.

The Isfahan installation is described as a Uranium Conversion Facility (UCF), where the refining of yellow cake takes place to produce materials that can be then used to produce enriched uranium.

In a deal with the International Atomic Enegy Agency (IAEA) brokered by Britain, France and Germany late last year, Tehran agreed to suspend uranium enrichment -- and all related activities -- while UN inspectors delved into suspicions Iran was using a bid to generate atomic energy as a cover for developing nuclear weapons.

But Iran, under massive international pressure to maintain the suspension, has consistently emphasised its right under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to produce nuclear fuel for what it insists are strictly peaceful purposes.

Iran also appears to be working to a more narrow definition of the suspension -- which diplomats say the Europeans had hoped would entirely halt Tehran's work on the highly sensitive nuclear fuel cycle.

Aghazadeh said the "voluntary suspension of uranium enrichment in Iran was a move to build trust with the IAEA, and based on the order of the Supreme National Security Council secretariat, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation will suspend in the field of building parts and facility construction."

He did not elaborate, but state television added in a commentary that the Isfahan facility, situated near the historic city in the centre of the country, was "not part of the deal with the IAEA" and had been declared to the Vienna-based body in 2000.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council is headed by Hassan Rowhani, the official charged with negotiations with the IAEA and who negotiated the deal with the European Union's 'big three'.

Aghazadeh, who is also one of the Islamic republic's vice-presidents, confirmed that IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei would visit Tehran on April 6 for talks with "high-ranking officials".

It will be Elbaradei's third visit to Iran since February 2003.

And he said that a team of IAEA inspectors presently in the country had visited an enrichment facility in Natanz, 250 kilometres (150 miles) south of Tehran, on Sunday and would also travel to the Isfahan installation.

IAEA inspectors arrived in Iran on Saturday for a visit which Tehran had delayed earlier this month after the body condemned Iran for failing to report that it had designs for sophisticated P2 centrifuges for enriching uranium to levels that could be weapon-grade.

Tehran yielded and allowed the visit after a delay of two weeks, however, due to an international outcry against Iran.

A diplomat in Vienna said another inspection team slated to go into Iran in about two weeks would be "determining if the commitment to suspension is being honored."

Even more aggressive inspections are expected later in April, particularly to look into the P2 question, diplomats at the IAEA said.

The IAEA has been investigating since February 2003 whether Iran's nuclear programme is peaceful, or devoted to secretly developing atomic weapons, as the United States alleges.

The body is to report its findings at a meeting in Vienna in June that ElBaradei has said will be "key in the ... consideration of Iran's implementation" of the NPT.

An IAEA ruling that Iran is in non-compliance with the NPT would send the issue to the UN Security Council, which could then impose punishing sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

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