KUWAIT, July 29: US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Thursday it was more and more likely the matter of Iran's nuclear programmes would have to be referred to the UN Security Council, which could impose sanctions.

The United States accuses Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge denied by Tehran which says its nuclear programmes are for peaceful purposes. In Paris, officials from Britain, France, Germany and Iran met on Thursday for talks on the issue.

"We are at a very important juncture. In general terms, we need to impress on Iran that trust still needs to be built, and that is up to the Iranians," said one western diplomat before the talks at the French foreign ministry.

Iran promised the European Union "big three" - France, Britain and Germany - in October that it would suspend all activities related to uranium enrichment. But Iran says it still has the right to produce uranium hexafluoride and build centrifuges.

Diplomats allege Iran had defied international pressure and resumed testing a facility for converting uranium, a key part of the process of enriching the element for use as fuel or in a nuclear bomb.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog, whose board would have to vote to send the Iran nuclear issue to the Security Council, declined to comment. The IAEA says the suspension was meant to apply to both.

Mr Powell repeated the US view that Iran has not met its IAEA obligations or kept its commitments to the EU three. "This is a troubling development that has to be noted by the international community," he said of Iran's nuclear efforts generally. "You just can't ignore it any longer."

"It is getting more and more likely that this matter is going to have to be referred to the Security Council," Mr Powell added, noting that the IAEA board is expected to review the matter at meetings in September and November.

He also said the Iranians have said "they are removing the seals on some of the material that was sealed by the IAEA and I hope this is a matter of concern for the IAEA and (that) they'll be speaking out about it". It was not immediately clear what material he was referring to. -Reuters