Iranian officials, the agency reported, plan to turn 37 tons of nearly raw uranium, called yellowcake, into uranium hexafluoride.

In return, Iran would suspend its enrichment of 37 tons of yellowcake, which is nearly raw uranium.

In his speech yesterday, Mr. Bush said the network even sold raw uranium to be processed into bomb fuel.

A crucial element of that program, officials say, could be the equipment to turn raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride.

The enrichment program starts at Isfahan, where raw uranium is converted into a form that easily becomes a gas.

For instance, the inspectors found that Iran in the first enrichment campaign used not only its own raw uranium but material it had imported from China.

He said, however, that nuclear fuel pellets and raw uranium had been intercepted.

They have demanded that Iran stop its program to convert raw uranium into uranium tetrafluoride.

Uranium enrichment, though, is just a straightforward, albeit expensive, industrial process, and raw uranium isn't that hard to obtain.

Nature has given it all the raw uranium it needs.