Ambassadors from six countries -- the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany -- are scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss a resolution on Iran's nuclear program.

The draft resolution circulated by the United States and three European allies includes the extraordinary step of preventing Iranian students from studying nuclear physics at foreign universities and colleges, The New York Times repoted.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has urged the Security Council to move rapidly to adopt the resolution, which would ban any training and education of Iranian citizens if it could eventually contribute to nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

"For the international community to be credible, it must pass a resolution now that holds Iran accountable for its defiance," Rice said.

The draft resolution would also prohibit any technical or financial assistance that could benefit Iran's nuclear program, and would impose a visa ban on any Iranians involved in nuclear activities, the newspaper quoted European diplomats involved in the negotiations as saying.

Meanwhile, the draft resolution states that sanctions would apply to fuel at Iran's first nuclear power plant at Bushehr but not its construction, diplomats said.

On Wednesday, Russia's Atomstroiexport company, which is building the Bushehr nuclear power plant, said the launch had been delayed due to technical reasons.

Last month, Russia's nuclear chief Sergei Kiriyenko said the plant will be commissioned in September 2007, with the power generating launch to take place two months later. The plant was originally scheduled to be commissioned at the end of 2006.