Speaking on the sidelines of an international conference on nuclear security, Mohamed ElBaradei called the agreement brokered in Paris "a step in the right direction."

The United States and European powers fear Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons -- although Tehran denies such claims, saying its nuclear program is for energy production.



Washington and Europe want Iran to halt all uranium enrichment activities, a technology that can be used to produce fuel or weapons, and have warned they would seek U.N. Security Council sanctions if Tehran does comply.



Months of intense diplomacy appeared close to bearing fruit over the weekend with the announcement of a preliminary agreement.



The deal could be finalized in the next few days, chief Iranian negotiator Hossein Mousavian told state-run Iranian television from Paris, where talks wrapped up Saturday.



"I would hope that this would lead to the desired outcome which is Iran to suspend both its enrichment and reprocessing related activities and open the way for normalization of Iran's relations with the international community starting with Europe," said ElBaradei, who is director general of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency.