VIENNA, March 2: Washington accused the U.N. atomic watchdog on Wednesday of failing to meet its "statutory obligation" to refer Iranian breaches of its non-proliferation obligations to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

Washington accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian atomic energy programme. Tehran denies this, insisting its nuclear ambitions are limited to the peaceful generation of electricity.

"The Security Council has the international legal and political authority that will bring this issue to a successful and peaceful resolution," US ambassador Jackie Sanders said in the text of a speech delivered at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) board of governors.

"The (IAEA) board cannot ignore forever its statutory obligation to report this matter to the UNSC," Jack Sanders said, referring to what she described as Iran's "non-compliance" with the nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

She said the Security Council (UNSC) also "has the authority to require and enforce a suspension of Iran's (uranium) enrichment-related and (plutonium) reprocessing activities", something Tehran has done voluntarily.

Mr Sanders referred to Tuesday's speech by IAEA deputy director general Pierre Goldschmidt, who said Iran had rejected an IAEA request to inspect the Parchin military complex and was forging ahead with plans to build a heavy-water reactor that can produce bomb-grade plutonium - despite an IAEA request Tehran scrap it.

"Dr Goldschmidt's recitation ... provides us with a startling list of Iranian attempts to hide and mislead, and delay the work of IAEA inspectors," she said.

EUROPE ALSO CRITICAL: France, Britain and Germany, who are spearheading talks with Iran, also criticized Tehran for not keeping its pledge to suspend all sensitive parts of its nuclear programme that could be used in bomb-making.

In its statement to the board, the EU trio cited Iran's pledge to suspend activities linked to uranium enrichment, and said Tehran's recent cleaning and quality control work on enrichment centrifuge parts was "of serious concern".

"We understand this decision as a voluntary commitment to suspend all, meaning each and every, enrichment-related activities, without exception. We urge Iran to keep to this voluntary commitment," Robert Wright, head of Britain's delegation to the IAEA meeting, said for the European trio.-Reuters

Incentives

WASHINGTON: President George Bush will meet Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday to discuss a proposal to join Europe in offering incentives to Iran to give up nuclear ambitions.

One incentive under discussion was that the United States would not oppose Iran applying for membership in the World Trade Organization. Mr Bush spoke to Ms Rice by phone on Tuesday after she discussed Iran at a London dinner with the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany.