NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude oil futures ended nearly a dollar higher Friday, rising for the first day in five, after a United Nations atomic agency report confirmed that Iran had ignored calls to halt its nuclear work.

The report from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to the U.N. Security Council in New York said Iran had done little to clarify whether its nuclear work was solely for civilian purposes.

Special Reportfull coverage $3-a-gallon gas: Blame Washington, not Big Oil Law and oil order Feds sued over fuel standards Exxon CEO: Use less of our stuff

Video More video CNN's Allan Chernoff explains the relationship between Exxon's profits and Americans' pockets. (April 27) Play video

U.S. light crude for June delivery gained 91 cents to settle at $71.88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It peaked for the day at $72.65. In the overnight trade, it fell as low as $70.49.

Fund buying helped the market rebound, traders said.

A week ago, prices hit a record $75.35.

Iran said in response that the IAEA report "does not contain negative points" and that it was ready to answer remaining questions about its atomic work.

Earlier, in reaction to the report, Britain said it would ask the Security Council to raise the pressure on Iran.

President Bush said he wanted to solve the Iran nuclear issue diplomatically and peacefully even though he stressed that Tehran's intransigence was not acceptable.

China's envoy to the U.N. said almost all council members were seeking a diplomatic solution.

Iran has said it will not back down from its nuclear work, which it claims it is doing for power generation. The West fears Iran may be using the work to cover its goal of building atomic weapons.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a rally in northern Iran Friday that his country would pay no attention to international calls to halt nuclear work.

Traders fear confrontation between Iran, the fourth largest oil exporter, and the international community would risk disruption of oil supplies from the Persian Gulf.

Iran has repeatedly said, however, that it would not suspend oil exports even if international sanctions were imposed against it.

"The crisis is reaching a critical juncture...we get no impression that either the United States (which is leading the call for Iran to stop uranium enrichment) or Iran will back down," said Peter Beutel, president of Cameron Hanover, trading consultants in New Canaan, Conn.

NYMEX May gasoline futures ended up 4.41 cents at $2.116 per gallon while May heating oil rose 2.68 cents to $2.0125 a gallon. Both contracts expired at the close of open-outcry trade.

News that spot shortages continue to occur in the Eastern U.S. because of distribution bottlenecks related to the switch to ethanol additive from MTBE helped pull up gasoline futures, traders said.

Earlier this week, President Bush ordered federal environmental authorities to find out if clean-air regulations should be waived so that refiners can make lower-grade gasoline, to increase supply.

__________________

Big oil defends its big profits. Click here.

Anatomy of a gas gouge. Click here.