Top foreign affairs envoys try to break Iran impasse

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 20 (Reuters) Senior foreign affairs officials from the five veto-holding U N Security Council powers and Germany meet today in an effort to break the impasse over reining in Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The session, designed to discuss future strategy on Iran, comes as the Council has been unable for nearly two weeks to issue a statement telling Iran to stop uranium-enrichment efforts the West believes are a cover for bomb making.

While a majority of the 15-nation Security Council backs the United States, Britain and France, permanent council members Russia and China distrust any language they feel will lead to sanctions and diminish the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna.

The draft statement does not threaten punitive measures. Today afternoon's meeting includes officials from the five permanent members as well as Germany, part of a European trio negotiating on Iran.

In Washington, a U S official said, ''The talks are about trying to make Russia and China comfortable.'' ''We and the Europeans will be letting them know war is not about to break out, sanctions are not about to be imposed -- that what we are asking for is just a presidential statement to pressure Iran,'' said the official, who asked not to be named because he was discussing private negotiations.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told reporters in Brussels the six nations would discuss ''how we take forward the draft of a presidential statement, and I hope we can get agreement.'' The full 15-member council meets again tomorrow.

Both Russia and China have objected to a section of the draft setting a two-week deadline for the IAEA to report whether Tehran has stopped enrichment activities, saying it is too short. But France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, made clear it could be lengthened if the statement were adopted this week.

China's U N ambassador, Wang Guangya, suggested four or six weeks and Russia indicated June might be a better date.

COMPROMISE Wang also said he offered a compromise that Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, would submit a progress report on Iran to the Security Council and the IAEA at the same time. This provision is included in a revised text distributed by the Western powers on Friday.

Moscow is still wary of involvement by the Security Council, which can impose sanctions, fearing threats might escalate and prompt Iran to cut all contact with the IAEA. Russia's U.N.

ambassador, Andrei Denisov, told reporters the IAEA should ''pilot the process'' and the Security Council should be ''informed.'' Under a November 2004 agreement with Britain, France and Germany, negotiators for the European Union, Iran agreed to freeze any uranium conversion, enrichment and reprocessing activities in return for economic and political rewards.

Before any incentives materialized, Iran restarted uranium conversion in August. In February, Tehran began tests on enriching uranium. The IAEA board agreed to report the issue to the Security Council, which received the dossier on March 8.

Straw was attending a meeting of European Union foreign ministers, who issued a statement expressing ''deep concern'' at Iran's failure to cooperate fully with the IAEA.

But they said the EU would ''keep all its diplomatic options under close review and will calibrate its approach in the light of Iranian declarations and actions.'' Reuters SY DB2318