UNITED NATIONS, Sept 15: Washington and the European Union may lack the votes next week to haul Iran before the UN Security Council for breaching its nonproliferation obligations, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

Ms Rice, speaking on Wednesday to the Fox News Editorial Board, said the United States and the EU remained determined to obtain a referral over Tehran’s nuclear program, a step towards possible sanctions.

But she acknowledged that they may not have a majority of the 35 nations on the IAEA board of governors, which will meet from Monday to discuss the joint US-EU plan.

The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany had a lengthy meeting with their Iranian counterpart in a bid to defuse tensions, the British foreign secretary announced.

—Agencies