Iran's top nuclear negotiator and Secretary of Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Ali Larijani said on Wednesday he had appointed a special committee to study restricting Iran's ties with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the official IRNA news agency reported.

"Following the ratification of a bill to revise Iran-IAEA cooperation relations by Majlis (parliament), based on which the government is required to expedite the country's nuclear program for peaceful purposes, the SNSC appointed a committee to conduct the necessary studies on making appropriate decisions in accordance with the current conditions," Larijani said.

The statement was made after Larijani's meeting with visiting Iraqi Minister of Economy and Finance Bayan Jabr.

The committee would work under the supervision of the SNSC, and would present with a report on the results of their studies, he added.

Iran's parliament earlier on Wednesday passed a bill urging the government to reduce its cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, in an reaction to the UN sanctions imposed on Tehran, the state radio reported.

The bill was approved by the powerful Guardian Council immediately and formally became a law, and it would be effective 15 days after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad affirms it.

The UN Security Council Resolution 1737, adopted unanimously on Saturday, demanded that Iran "suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and developments on all heavy water-related projects."

The resolution also called on all states to impose a ban on trade with Iran in goods related to its nuclear programs and ballistic missile delivery systems.

It demanded that "all states shall freeze the funds, other financial assets and economic resources" owned or controlled by officials and companies in the country's nuclear and missile programs.

Shortly after the UN Security Council's unanimous vote, the Iranian Foreign Ministry issued a statement lashing out at the resolution, calling it an "illegal measure."

Iran had threatened to change the level of its cooperation with the IAEA, but said it would not retreat from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2006)