TEHRAN, Jan. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior Iranian official confirmed on Monday that Iran will resume nuclear fuel research in the day,the official IRNA news agency reported.

    "As announced, nuclear research will be resumed in Iran today in the presence of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)representatives," government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham was quoted as saying.

    "Resumption of research is not subject to legal prohibitions. It was suspended voluntarily," Elham added.

    Elham also said that general outlines of a Russian proposal over Iran's uranium enrichment have been announced but announcement of details will be revealed after further negotiations.

    A Russian delegation, headed by Security Council Deputy Secretary Valentin Sobolev, arrived in Tehran Thursday evening and held discussions from Friday to Sunday with Iranian officials on a recent compromise proposal made by Moscow that the two sides establish a joint venture in Russia to enrich uranium for Iran.

    Iran said on Tuesday that it had informed the IAEA of a decision to resume nuclear fuel research, which had been suspended for nearly two and a half years, on Jan. 9, a move that the European Union warns will jeopardize bilateral nuclear talks.

    IAEA Director General Mohamed Elbaradei on Tuesday reiterated the agency's position that it was important for Tehran to keep all work related to uranium enrichment suspended in order to disperse suspicions of the international community over its nuclear program.

    A group of IAEA inspectors arrived here on Friday to supervise Tehran's resumption of nuclear research activities after the agency's dissuasion failed.

    Tehran's nuclear fuel research was suspended in Oct. 2003, so was its uranium enrichment, a key step to build nuclear fuel cycle.Iran has ruled out the suggestion to move its uranium enrichment to Russia.

    The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, a charge rejected by Tehran as politically motivated.   Enditem