( AP ) - The U.N. nuclear agency on Thursday called Iran's cooperation with its probe of past suspicious atomic activities "a significant step forward," in a report expected to hamper U.S.-led efforts for new sanctions on Tehran.
At the same time, the report confirmed that Iran continued to expand its uranium enrichment program, reflecting the Islamic republic's continued defiance of the U.N. Security Council.
Still, said U.N. officials, both enrichment and the building of a plutonium-producing reactor was continuing more slowly than expected.