The United States has rejected Iran's offer to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities and Washington will continue to press the UN Security Council to penalise Tehran.
Iran offered to allow inspections to resume if the Security Council turned the dispute over to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice yesterday dismissed the offer as a ploy.
I think they're playing games. Every time we get close to a Security Council decision there's some effort to say, 'Oh no, we really were interested in that proposal that we rejected'," she told ABC's This Week.
The IAEA reported last Friday that Iran had defied the nuclear body's instruction to stop enriching uranium and Washington now wants the Security Council to approve a resolution against Tehran that could open the way to sanctions and eventual military action.
"The international community's credibility is at stake here. And we have a choice, too. We can either mean what we say, when we say that Iran must comply, or we can continue to allow Iran to defy," Ms Rice said.
Three of the Security Council's five members - the US, France and Britain - favour sanctioning Iran but Russia and China are opposed.
Iran said yesterday that it was open to dialogue but warned that imposing sanctions would provoke a strong response.