Iran’s top nuclear negotiator and secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Hasan Rowhani, right, shakes hands with British ambassador to Iran Richard Dalton, in front of German ambassador Paul von Maltzahn at the Saadabad palace in Tehran, Iran, Sunday. Iran has notified the U.N. nuclear watchdog in writing that it will to suspend uranium enrichment.

Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran said Monday that it was suspending uranium enrichment and related activities briefly, voluntarily and in hopes of building confidence in the world that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters the deal announced Sunday was ‘‘the best decision under the current circumstances.’’

Iran faces the possibility of being slapped with U.N. Security Council sanctions for a program the United States and others says is aimed at building nuclear weapons.

Iran notified the International Atomic Energy Agency Sunday that it will fully suspend uranium enrichment and related activities.

Diplomats at IAEA headquarters in Vienna said Tehran has now agreed to continue freezing enrichment — the process to make either nuclear fuel or the core for nuclear weapons — and also to suspend such activities as reprocessing uranium and building centrifuges used to enrich it.

‘‘Iran’s acceptance of suspension is a political decision, not an obligation,’’ Asefi said.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani, speaking on state-run television Monday, confirmed Iran notified the IAEA in writing that it has agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and related activities.

He said the suspension will last until the completion of negotiations with Europe over Iran’s nuclear program.

Asefi told reporters that the negotiations will last for a short period, but he did not elaborate.

‘‘Our negotiations with Europe will be for a short period of time to create an atmosphere of confidence,’’ he said.

Asefi said the full text of the agreement will be officially released in the capitals of the four countries involved in the negotiations — Britain, France, Germany and Iran — later Monday.

(AP Photo)