NEW YORK, Sept 28: Major world powers working to rein in Iran’s nuclear ambitions said on Friday they would wait for two key reports in November before deciding on whether to push for a third round of UN sanctions on Tehran.

Their comments followed talks in New York between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Germany and the European Union to discuss measures against the Islamic republic over its refusal to stop enriching uranium.

It had been clear before the talks that although the United States, France, Britain and Germany wanted to push for further sanctions, Russia and China wanted to give the International Atomic Energy Agency more time to do its work.

In the end, the seven powers agreed to wait until November pending the reports by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana before deciding whether to submit a further UN sanctions resolution.

“We agree to finalise a text for a third UN Security Council sanctions resolution ... with the intention of bringing it to a vote in the UN Security Council unless the November reports of Dr Solana and Dr ElBaradei show a positive outcome of their efforts,” a joint statement said.

“There is a compromise but a good compromise,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said after the talks, describing the meeting as split between those pushing for negotiations and those wanting immediate sanctions.

“We are still working on sanctions,” he pointedly added.

The talks gathered US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her counterparts from Russia, China, Britain, France, Germany and the European Union and followed talks Wednesday and Thursday at the senior official level.

They had a “very long and detailed discussion of the elements” of a third sanctions resolution and “there was active participation by all, including the Chinese and Russian ministers,” said US Under Secretary of State Nick Burns.

“The alchemy of this group is such that ... anything is going to be a compromise,” Burns said. But he added the new sanctions should have “teeth.” German Foreign Minister Franck-Walter Steinmeier warned before the closed-door talks that the meeting “is not going to be simple.” Iran and the IAEA agreed on a timetable last month for Tehran to provide answers to outstanding questions over its nuclear program, and officials from the UN’s nuclear watchdog are in Iran for talks.

The IAEA has been probing Iran’s programme for the past four years but has so far failed to conclude whether it is peaceful or not.

The talks among the six world powers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly followed separate talks between Rice and her three European colleagues and Solana.

The ministers also encouraged Solana to continue face-to-face talks with Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani on Iran’s nuclear standoff with the West, Burns said.—AFP