Security Council holds informal session on Iran nculear crisis

Diplomats said envoys of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- the five veto-wielding permanent members of the council known as the P-5 -- had two rounds of talks, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

In between the two, the P-5 envoys huddled informally with their colleagues from the 10 other non-permanent council members to brief them on their deliberations.

The five ambassadors said late Monday that they would meet again Tuesday morning. There was no word on the substance of the discussions, particularly on the contentious issues.

The Security Council has been trying in vain for the past two weeks to reach agreement on a Franco-British statement, backed by Washington, that calls on Iran to honour its international nuclear commitments.

But Russia and China have opposed language in the proposed statement that would even hint at punitive measures against their ally and key trading partner.

"We don't have a deal but we continued our discussions, we will continue them and we edged forward... but it's edging forward," said Britain's UN envoy Emyr Jones Parry.

"There's still a lot of work to do," chimed France's UN ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere.

His Chinese counterpart Wang Guangya told AFP that little progress was made.

"We will refer back to capitals and come back tomorrow," he noted.

Wang earlier Monday said the Europeans had made several new proposals while the Russians also submitted their own ideas.

After the P-5 meeting with the 10 other council partners, Japan's UN envoy Kenzo Oshima told reporters: "I don't know if it's appropriate to call it a deadlock, the talks are going on and it's not an easy process."

But he said he did not expect an agreement to emerge before a meeting of foreign ministers from the P-5 and Germany scheduled for Thursday in Berlin.

"If they are to meet Thursday in Berlin, one would expect as the most likely ...that there will be no agreement before that. It's not easy," Oshima said.

The United States succeeded last month in persuading the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refer the matter to the Security Council, which has the authority to impose punitive measures, including sanctions.

The United States, which is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Berlin meeting, accuses Iran of seeking to develop nculear weapons under the cover of an atomic power program.

Iran rejects the allegation and says it has the right as a signatory of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to pursue uranium enrichment.

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