NEW DELHI, Sept. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran is "surprised and disappointed" by India's "unexpected" vote for a resolution that could refer Tehran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council but hopes that it will not affect the growing ties between the two countries, Indo-Asian News Service reported Monday, quoting an unnamed Iranian diplomat here.

    "We were surprised at India's vote in favor of the European Union resolution as we didn't expect it at all," IANS quoted the diplomat as saying.

    On the voting on the resolution sponsored by the European troika -- Britain, France and Germany -- in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the diplomat said, "We would have been happy if India had opposed the resolution, but we would have been satisfied if India had abstained."

    The resolution paves the way for referring Iran to the UN Security Council. However, a decision would be taken at its next board meeting in November.

    However, on the question to what extent India's open support to resolution would affect the Indo-Iran ties, the diplomat replied, "We sincerely hope that it won't affect our ties."

    "But it all depends on the next steps by India. Iran will be keenly watching how India votes at the next board meeting in November," he added.

    Saying that Tehran expected a more "refined" response from New Delhi, the diplomat went on to speak about the relentless vigilance by the inspectors of the IAEA.

    "Iran's is a unique case in the history of the IAEA. There have been countless inspections by the IAEA, but no evidence has been found to support the charge that Iran's nuclear program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons," he said.

    On the other hand, India Monday expressed confidence that its action will not affect the ongoing energy cooperation with Iran.

    "As long as the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline is economically viable, there should be no problem with it."

    Iran had expected stronger backing at the IAEA, especially from India.

    India has however justified its vote in favor of the resolution, saying that its behind-the-scenes diplomacy prevented an immediate referral of Iran's case to the Security Council and provided yet another opportunity for a negotiated settlement of the issue. Enditem