The three ministers and Javier Solana, European Union chief diplomat, at a meeting on the Iranian nuclear issue yesterday. From left to right: France Foreign minister, Britain Foreign minister, Germany Foreign minister and Javier Solana. - Xinhua

Foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain called here yesterday for Iran to be brought before the UN Security Council to face possible sanctions for resuming its nuclear research, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

The three ministers and Javier Solana, European Union chief diplomat, made the decision at a meeting on the Iranian nuclear issue, calling for an emergency session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, to vote on referring Iran to the UN Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions.

Defying international opposition, Teheran resumed its nuclear fuel research on Tuesday, which it suspended under a deal signed with the three EU nations in Paris 14 months ago.

At a joint press conference after the meeting, Steinmeier said,"our talks with Iran have now reached a dead end. In our view, things have come to the point where the Security Council must be engaged."

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Iran had "turned its back" on the negotiations the three EU nations had engaged with Teheran, and the only alternative was to start the UN process by going to the IAEA.

A joint statement from the EU troika said, "We believe the time has now come for the Security Council to become involved."

It said, "Iran's decision to restart enrichment activity is a clear rejection of the process of the E3/EU and Iran have been engaged in for over two years with the support of the international community," adding it was "a challenge to the authority of the IAEA and international community".

"This is not a dispute between Iran and Europe, but between Iran and the whole international community," said the statement, "It is about Iran's failure to build the necessary confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program."

The EU decision capped a two and half years of efforts to persuade Iran to give up its uranium enrichment program, which the West believe it intends to use to produce nuclear weapons.

A further round of talks had been planned for Jan. 18 with Iran,but Iran's resumption of nuclear activities made the meeting meaningless, said an EU official.

After holding a news conference, the EU ministers and Solana held a teleconference on the issue with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Britain said it would host talks of senior foreign diplomats from the United States, Russia, China and the EU troika next week.

In response to this, Iran said Thursday that it was not worried by the threat of referral to the Security Council, insisting that its nuclear program is only for civilian use in accordance with international law.