World powers gearing up for Iran sanctions--UK

LONDON, Oct 3 (Reuters) Six world powers are preparing to draft United Nations sanctions against Iran because talks have failed to yield a promise by Tehran to halt sensitive atomic work, a senior British official said today.

He said European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana had reported back to EU countries and the United States after meeting top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani at the weekend, saying Tehran had given a clear ''no''.

''We are intensifying preparatory efforts for what should be in a (UN) resolution,'' the British official said.

''(British Foreign Secretary) Margaret Beckett was talking to her counterparts over the weekend ... Unless there is a sudden and unexpected change of heart by the Iranians, we can expect this to move to New York in the coming week or so.'' The United States, France, Russia, China, Britain and Germany offered Iran a package of incentives in June aimed at persuading Tehran to abandon technology that could be used to make a nuclear weapon.

Iran says its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes. It ignored an August 31 deadline set by the United Nations Security Council to suspend uranium enrichment, a process used in making nuclear weapons as well as in civil power generation.

''Solana reported that Larijani had made clear to him last week that Iran was not prepared to resume suspension,'' the British official said.

''That's the position that President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad and others had been stating in public. It came through clearly from Larijani to Solana, and Solana has accordingly reported back.'' Washington has been pressing for swift steps towards sanctions.

Some EU states, Russia and China have resisted, saying diplomacy should be given more time to work.

The British official said any sanctions would be ''incremental, proportionate to Iran's actions, and reversible''.

The first ''increment'' of the sanctions would be likely to focus on Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, he added, but declined to give any further details about that or what further sanctions might entail.

The official said he did not believe sanctions against Iran would spark another oil shock.

Iran, OPEC's second-largest producer, has suested it could curb supply to needy Western economies in retaliation for sanctions. But the British official pointed out that Iran itself relies heavily on oil revenues to fund its budget.

Reuters SP GC2122