Six world powers handed the UN Security Council a draft resolution on Iran's nuclear program last night after the United States, facing stiff Russian opposition, failed to secure agreement for new sanctions.
Ambassador Alejandro Wolff of the United States, which like European powers favours more sanctions, said the draft, calling on Iran to comply with previous resolutions demanding it suspend uranium enrichment, was an important "show of unity."
Russia said it was not a time to consider new sanctions.
The proposal comes less than two weeks after the UN atomic watchdog reported that Iran was not co-operating enough with its inspectors.
Diplomats said members of the 15-nation council, which has already passed three rounds of travel bans and asset freezes on Iranian individuals and companies, would consult their governments and the resolution could come to a vote early next week.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, whose country has veto power on the Security Council, appeared to shut the door firmly on new sanctions in the near future.
"(We) continue to believe that it is not timely to consider at the ministerial, or at any other level, this proposal of new sanctions," Lavrov told a news conference.
The 10-line draft resolution would call on Iran to "fully comply, without delay" with previous council resolutions, which demand it halt enrichment. It also urges Iran to meet the requirements of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stressed the need to heal East-West rifts over Russia's invasion of Georgia.
"It's also especially important that the Iranians recognise that the P5 plus 1 process is intact," Rice told Reuters in an interview.
The five permanent Security Council members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - plus Germany are seeking to persuade Iran to halt suspect nuclear activities.
Western countries fear Iran is pursuing an atomic bomb but Tehran says it seeks merely civil nuclear power and that uranium enrichment is its right.
Ministers of the six powers were originally due to meet on Thursday to discuss new sanctions but that was postponed after an increasingly assertive Russia withdrew to protest U.S. criticism of its invasion of Georgia. Western officials feared that would send a signal of disarray to Tehran.
Although the draft resolution has no new penalties, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters that the text "does not rule them out either."
Negotiations on previous sanctions resolutions have dragged on for months and council diplomats say the chances of passing another before a new US president takes office in January are very slim.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has indicated he would continue the current administration's firm line on Iran. Democrat Barack Obama has also said keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is a top priority, but has shown more willingness to engage in dialogue.
Asked how much longer Iran could defy three resolutions demanding it stop enrichment without facing further penalties, Wolff said that depended on "the dynamics of the council as well as the situation on the ground."
"We remain hopeful Iran will comply, will seize on the incentives package that has been offered," Wolff said.
In June, the six powers gave Iran a beefed-up offer of political and economic incentives, including nuclear reactors, in exchange for suspending its enrichment program.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad showed no sign of compromise during his visit to the United Nations this week, vowing to resist US "bullying" and defend Iran's right to develop peaceful nuclear technology.
Reuters