VIENNA, Sept. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran on Monday pledged to renew cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog agency, despite its previous threat to quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in protest against a deadline for Tehran to make a clean breast of its allegedly covert nuclear program.

　　Iranian Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, who also acts as Iran's atomic energy agency chief, said Iran would show its readiness to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

　　Meanwhile, Iran would take a step further to engage in negotiations with the IAEA with regard to permitting the Vienna-based agency to conduct snap inspections on Iran's nuclear facilities, Aghazadeh added.

　　last weekend, Iran threatened to pull out of the nuclear treatywhich aims to ban the spread of nuclear weapons.

　　The outright defiance by Iran was triggered by a resolution passed by the UN atomic watchdog last week, which imposed a deadline for Iran to clarify suspicions related to its secretive nuclear program by the end of Oct. 31.

　　According to the resolution, if Iran failed to present creditable explanations, the IAEA would submit a report to the UN Security Council accusing Iran of noncompliance, with the punishment ranging from warning to sanctions. Enditem