Iran hopes its nuclear case will be returned to the International Atomic Energy Agency in the near future, a senior official says.

"Tehran expects the IAEA to maintain its independence and to call on the Security Council to refer Iran's nuclear case back to the agency," Deputy Director for International Affairs of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), Mohammad Saeedi, said on Sunday.

His remarks came in the wake of an agreement with the IAEA on a timetable to resolve the remaining issues, reached in the course of talks held during the recent two-day visit to Tehran by the IAEA Director General Mohammad ElBaradei.

Saeedi added that the mutual confidence between Iran and the IAEA results from the agency's frequent inspections of the country's nuclear sites, all of which have proved Tehran's indisputable commitment to international rules and regulations.

On the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Saeedi said that Iran was in talks with Russia to finalize the exact date for the operation of the plant and hoped that both sides would agree on the issue within the next few weeks.

"More than 95 percent of the plant has been completed so far and the project is approaching its final stages."

The remaining nuclear fuel would be delivered to Iran in the next few weeks, he said, adding that two consignments of the fuel had already been sent to Iran.

AR/GM/BGH