Six world powers meet on Friday to discuss imposing a third round of sanctions on Iran because of its refusal to stop enriching uranium, which they suspect could be used to build nuclear weapons.
Talks among top officials from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- plus Germany were due to start in the morning and last several hours, diplomatic sources said.
Iran has refused to comply after two previous U.N. sanctions resolutions and denies that it wants to produce atomic bombs, saying its program is intended solely for power generation.
The United States, represented by undersecretary of state for political affairs Nicholas Burns, says it wants to make progress in outlining a sanctions resolution and ministers can then decide on its timing.
But diplomats from other countries have said they want to hear first on how Iran's talks with the U.N. watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), are progressing after Tehran agreed to answer questions about its past secret nuclear work.
Burns said Russia and China, major trading partners with Iran, had effectively blocked moves towards a third sanctions resolution for six months.
The United States imposed economic sanctions last week and has not ruled out military action against Iran. Britain has also said it will push for a third round of U.N. sanctions.
RUSSIA, CHINA OPPOSE SANCTIONS
But Russia believes dialogue rather than more punishment is the way forward while China reacted to the U.S. sanctions by saying it was opposed to acting "too rashly".
Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Friday that Tehran was cooperating with the IAEA, referring to an agreement in August under which Tehran pledged to clear up suspicions about past secret atomic activities.
Rafsanjani, who is an influential cleric and speaker of the powerful Assembly of Experts, said: "America is making a mistake. Iran has entered into negotiations and is talking to the Agency (IAEA). Iran has told (the IAEA) to ask its questions and get the answers. One should be patient and negotiate."
Referring to any possible U.S. military action, he said: "I am sure that if America seeks adventure again, soon all the nations of the world will realize that America has made an obvious mistake."
He said "such threats, if they come true, will create another quagmire for the global arrogance of (the United States)".
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking to reporters on Friday on her way to Turkey, said Washington had had some "tactical" differences with China and Russia about the timing and the "depth or breadth" of a new U.N. resolution.
"But the Russians -- when I talked to (Foreign Minister) Sergei Lavrov yesterday -- he said they were prepared to come and work on the text as we agreed when we were together last and we will just have to see how those discussions go," she said.
The major powers agreed in late September to delay a vote on new sanctions until late November at the earliest after it had received reports by the IAEA and a European Union negotiator.
(Reuters)