"We think the decision taken in the framework of the IAEA board of directors is balanced," Putin said in an interview with Spanish media, the text of which was published on the Kremlin's website.

Putin said Russia would brief Iranian officials on the decision taken Saturday by the 35-nation board of directors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, saying the essence of the move was that it left responsibility for dealing with the Iran nuclear issue with the IAEA for now.

"The dossier is not 'referred.' The notion here is one of reporting, of joint work with the Security Council on the Iranian issue. But this is not referral of the dossier to the Security Council. That is the difference.

"In my view, this encourages a further search for ways to resolve this problem," Putin said.

The IAEA board of governors voted Saturday in Vienna to report Iran to the UN Security Council over its nascent nuclear energy program, which the West suspects it is using as cover to devlop a nuclear weapons program, a charge Tehran denies.

Supporters and opponents of transferring responsibility for dealing with the issue to the UN Security Council, which can impose sanctions on Iran, hailed the vote as a victory.

The issue will be revisited on March 6, when the IAEA turns in another report to the Security Council, which will then decide how to procede.

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