Top UN Security Council members to meet on Iran

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The foreign ministers of the U.N. Security Council’s five permanent members and Germany will meet in London on Monday to try to agree on how to tackle Iran’s nuclear program, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

It cited diplomats as saying the meeting would give Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany a last opportunity to forge a common position before the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) holds an emergency meeting on Iran on February 2.

The United States and its European allies want the Vienna-based IAEA to refer Iran to the Security Council for possible sanctions. Russia and China are urging caution.

The New York Times report from Vienna also said IAEA officials had flown to Tehran on Tuesday where it said they would give Iran a last chance to cooperate fully with the agency’s demands on the country’s past nuclear activities.

It quoted agency officials as saying Olli Heinonen, deputy director general for safeguards, would press demands for access to a former military site in Tehran, information about Iran’s dealings with an international nuclear black market and information about possible work related to nuclear weapons.

Britain, France and Germany, negotiating with Iran on behalf of the European Union with U.S. support, broke off talks this month after Tehran removed IAEA seals on uranium enrichment equipment and announced it was resuming nuclear fuel research.

The West suspects Iran of seeking nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian atomic program. Tehran denies this.