Under the protocol, Tehran and Moscow would speed up the completion of the Booshehr nuclear power plant and to form a commission to study the possibility of building a second reactor, the official Islamic Republic News Agency IRNA reported.

A separate agreement also reached Wednesday, Russia agreed to provide nuclear fuel for the Booshehr plant in southern Iran for the next 10 years, IRNA reported, adding that one of the articles of the protocol highlights Russia's obligation to finish the plant according to schedule.

Russia had initially undertaken to finish controversial plant in 2000, but due to delayed payments by Iran and other technical difficulties, it has now assured that the project could be completed by the end of 2003.

Talking to reporters, Aqazadeh said he was hopeful about the implementation of the protocol's requirements.

Rumyantsev arrived Sunday in Tehran for a four-day visit and met several Iranian officials, including Majles Speaker Hojjatoleslam Mehdi Karroobi and Vice-President Mohammad-Reza Aref.

He also travelled to Booshehr to observe the construction work on the one million dollars plant and discussed the issue of transferring nuclear fuel waste from Iran to Russia and reiterated that nuclear cooperation between Tehran and Moscow was "strictly peaceful" and did not violate international conventions on nuclear energy activities.

On Tuesday, President Mohammad Khatami said Iran was committed to its obligations and had no intention to develop nuclear weapons.

He assured that the nuclear waste from Booshehr plant would be taken to Russia for safekeeping and added that Iran's willingness to send spent fuel back to Russia showed that it did not want to use it for weapons.

Iranian and international experts also have concerns, reminding that with huge gas reserves second after Russia, Iran does not need expensive, complicated atomic-powered electrical plant, especially based on old and controversial Russian technologies similar to the Chernobyl power plant that exploded some years ago in Ukraine.

The United States recently distributed pictures taken by American satellites showing Iran was building secretly new sites in the central city of Arak and in Natanz, in the central province of Esfahan, necessary for making nuclear weapons.

Mr. Aqazadeh said Iran had nothing to hide and has asked the atomic agency to inspect its nuclear activity.

"We have been in contacts with the IAEA over these two centres and we will officially invite them for inspections since the agency must inspect them and carry out their necessary planning and supervision before the projects are put into operation", said Iranian Foreign Affairs Minister Kamal Kharrazi.

Tehran later invited Mr. ElBaradei to travel to Iran to inspect both the facilities.

Hamid Reza Asefi, the Iraqi-born senior spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry accused the United States and Israel for waging propaganda war against Iran intended to "divert world public opinion from the Zionist regime's threats to the region at this sensitive juncture".

"Iran believes it has the right to carry out necessary researches for peaceful use of nuclear energy and no country can deprive it of this natural right", Asefi said.

He urged the United States to rely on the agency's reports, saying that otherwise Washington's assertions were mere propaganda.

In a separate news conference, the cabinet spokesman, Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said Iran was determined to continue its program to develop nuclear power and benefit from foreign technology.

He added that existing power plants were not sufficient to meet the growing domestic need for electricity, observing that Iran needs to generate an additional 6,000 megawatts of electricity and that the nuclear plants are intended to produce the power.

"In the next 20 years, Iran has to produce 6,000 megawatts of electricity by nuclear plants and the launch of these two centres are aimed at producing necessary fuel for these plants," Mr. Kharrazi explained.