Gholamreza Aghazadeh

Iran's nuclear chief says his country has agreed in principle with Russia on a joint uranium enrichment deal to ease the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program.

But it remains unclear whether Iran would suspend its own enrichment program as demanded by the international community.

Iran's Gholamreza Aghazadeh and Russian atomic energy head Sergei Kiriyenko discussed the deal in Iran and say more talks will be held in the coming days. The plan has the backing of the United States and European Union.

Russia and Iran are trying to finalize the deal before the March 6 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which could call for the U.N. Security Council to take action against Iran.

The United States and European countries say Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons - a charge Iran denies.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.