At Monday's opening session of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 145-nation conference, the European Union urged Iran to fully cooperate with a UN investigation trying to assess all of its past and present nuclear activities.

In a statement, the EU said, ''The international community cannot accept the prospect of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons.''

Israel also took Iran to task for co-sponsoring Islamic attempts to label the Jewish state a nuclear danger to the Middle East.

Israeli delegate Schaul Chorev said, ''What moral standing poses sponsors of this agenda item, who do not recognise Israel's right to exist while criticising Israel policies aiming at securing its very existence?''.

He was alluding to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Iran, in turn, accused the United States, Britain and France of breaking their non-proliferation commitments by giving Israel ''full uninterrupted cooperation with, and assistance in, nuclear weapon technology''.

Iran delegate Ali Ashgar Soltanieh condemned the ''illegal and unjustified engagement of the United Nations Security Council'' in pressuring his country to suspend uranium enrichment something he said would never happen.

Iran, along with ally Syria, figures directly at the Vienna conference because they were among four nations seeking their region's nomination for a seat on the agency's decision-making 35-nation board.

Iran was running to counteract a US push to have Afghanistan or Kazakhstan elected over Syria, which is under investigation by the agency for allegedly hiding a nuclear program, including a nearly completed plutonium-producing reactor reportedly destroyed last year by Israel.

But both Iran and Kazakhstan withdrew their candidacies by evening, Syria's chief representative Mohammad Badi Khattag said.

In his opening speech, agency director Mohamed ElBaradei focused on Iran's refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program and alleged past plans to develop a nuclear bomb.

The UN Security Council approved a resolution on Saturday critical of Iran's defiance on uranium enrichment, which can create nuclear fuel and warheads.

Iran should ''implement all transparency measures ... required to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program'', Mr ElBaradei said.

''This will be good for Iran, good for the Middle East region and good for the world.'' AP