Major world powers agreed today to begin work on a new UN Security Council resolution on Iran over its nuclear programme but were still committed to seeking a negotiated solution, officials said.
British Foreign Office
Iran dug in its heels over its nuclear programme as the major powers met in London to discuss tightening UN sanctions against the Islamic republic, which the West fears is attempting to produce nuclear weapons.
The five permanent United Nations Security Council members - the United States, France, Russia, China and Britain - plus Germany met against a background of rising international tensions about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
"We had a productive first discussion of the next steps ... We began work on a new Security Council resolution," the British Foreign Office said in a statement.
"We were encouraged by the seriousness of the discussions." No other details were immediately available but the major powers had been thought likely to discuss imposing a travel ban on senior Iranian officials and restrictions on non-nuclear business. Outside the London meeting, the rhetoric was escalating on both sides.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country had "no brake and no reverse gear" on its nuclear policies, prompting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to say Tehran needed a "stop button" for its programme.
US Vice President Dick Cheney said all options were on the table following Iran's refusal to heed a UN deadline for halting uranium enrichment.
An Iranian deputy foreign minister responded by saying Iran was prepared even for war. Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he was worried by talk of possible military strikes against Iran, which he noted had become more frequent.
In Tehran, a government spokesman said the West's demand Iran suspend enrichment was "illegal and illogical". "Suspending uranium enrichment as a precondition for talks is an illegal and illogical demand and it is in contradiction with the Iranian nation's dignity," government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham told a weekly news conference.
"We are ready to preserve our legal rights through talks." Iran says it is entitled to nuclear power to generate electricity and wants to negotiate with the Europeans and Washington without giving up its right to enrich uranium. The West suspects Tehran is trying to build an atomic arsenal. Rising tensions over Iran, the world's fourth largest oil exporter, affected market sentiment.
The dollar hit a two-month low against the euro of $1.3198 while oil prices neared a fresh 2007 high above $61 a barrel.