VIENNA, Sept 14: UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei has urged the United States to give Iran one last chance to halt suspected weapons-related nuclear activities, rather than demanding immediate UN Security Council action, diplomats said on Wednesday.

The United States and the European Union are pushing for the International Atomic Energy Agency to refer Iran to the Security Council, when the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors begins meeting in Vienna on Monday.

But ElBaradei told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a telephone conversation last week that it would be better to give Iran a deadline for ceasing uranium conversion work, rather than going for referral now, as the IAEA board is split over the issue, a diplomat close to the agency said. —AFP