VIENNA, Sept. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board of governors adopted a resolution in Vienna onSaturday, accusing Iran of breaching the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Safeguards Agreement, but Iran has rejected the resolution as "unacceptable and illegal."

    The 35-member board voted 22-1 to approve the document, with 12abstentions. Venezuela is the only IAEA board member that rejectedthe resolution.

    The United States, Japan, Canada, Argentina, Ghana and the European Union (EU) countries voted in favor of the resolution, while Russia, China and some Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) countries abstained from voting.

    The EU-proposed resolution said Iran has committed many breaches of its obligations to the NPT Safeguards Agreement, which"constitute non-compliance" in the context of Article 12 of the IAEA Statute.

    Article 12 of the IAEA Statute stipulates that the non-compliance shall be reported to the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly.

    However, the resolution does not demand an immediate referral of the Iran case to the Security Council.

    Iran, a member of the IAEA, but not a member of the IAEA board,fiercely rejected the resolution.

    "The resolution is unacceptable and illegal. The Europeans evenfailed to get a consensus on it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said.

    "It is very unusual for the International Atomic Energy Agency to vote on a decision, so the adoption by vote this time showed that there is no consensus against Iran's peaceful nuclear program," Asefi added.

    Iranian delegation chief Jawad Vaeidi told the press after the vote that the resolution was "entirely politically motivated" and that the United States and Britain "failed" because the IAEA boardreached no consensus on the resolution.

    The United States, which had been lobbying for Iran's immediatereferral to the Security Council for resuming activities toward uranium enrichment which the Americans say could lead to a bomb, called the move a victory.

    "This is a significant step forward in the international effortto isolate Iran," said Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state forpolitical affairs. "It's also a significant setback for Iran's nuclear strategy."

    British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, on behalf of EU, said:"Iran has the opportunity now to address the clear concerns of the IAEA, and the lack of confidence in Iran's nuclear intentions."

    "It is only when Iran demonstrates beyond any doubt that it is not seeking a nuclear weapons capability that it will be able to develop a better relationship with Europe and the international community as a whole," he added.

    EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said: "We welcome the adoption of the resolution and we welcome the broad support it hasreceived from members of the board.

    "And we welcome the fact that it leaves open the door to a settlement of the Iranian issue through further negotiations."

    Russia, which abstained from voting, said in a statement Saturday that while Iran must ensure its nuclear programs are onlyfor peaceful purposes, the IAEA should guarantee Tehran the rightsof peacefully utilizing nuclear energy.

    The NAM, which has 14 seats in the IAEA board, also issued a statement after the adoption of the resolution, saying, "the elements contained in the draft resolution do not form the complete basis for moving forward in seeking a constructive solution" to Iran's nuclear issue.

    Though somewhat softened, the revised version of the resolutionpassed by the board could still escalate the crisis over Iran's nuclear program, as Iran has threatened to restart uranium enrichment and cease to admit snap inspections of the IAEA in caseof its adoption.

    The current crisis was triggered by Tehran's resumption on Aug.8 of highly sensitive uranium conversion activities after rejecting an EU proposal to give up its nuclear fuel work in return for economic and technical incentives.

    After the adoption of the resolution, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei remained firm on his position of seeking negotiation with Iran instead of extreme means.

    He said despite the adoption of the resolution, the board did not resort to immediate referral of the Iran case to the Security Council.

    "There is still ample room for negotiation," he said, urging Iran back to the negotiation process. Enditem