U.S. calls meeting on Iran sanctions

VIENNA (Reuters) - The United States said on Wednesday it would host a meeting of world powers on September 21 to discuss broadening U.N. sanctions against Iran for its refusal to suspend nuclear activity.

The meeting of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany is due to focus "largely on a discussion of what sanctions will be included" in a new Council resolution, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

The announcement in Washington came during a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, where western countries questioned a deal between Tehran and the IAEA, meant to bring transparency to Iran's nuclear program.

The August 21 deal commits Iran to answer five-year-old IAEA questions about its nuclear program over a timeline of a few months, while effectively allowing Tehran to continue to enrich uranium -- a process that can be used to produce nuclear bombs.

Iran says it is entitled to run a nuclear program it bills as designed solely to generate electricity. Chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani, speaking in Tehran, reiterated on Wednesday that Iran would not suspend uranium enrichment.

The United States, which suspects Iran of seeking nuclear bombs, believes mild U.N. sanctions need to be tightened to force Iran to suspend uranium enrichment. It fears the deal with the IAEA might delay its bid for stronger sanctions.

During the meeting of IAEA governors in Vienna, it appealed for support from the 35-nation body for fresh sanctions on Iran.

But referring to such pressure, Iran warned that any "political interference" could kill the deal. "Let the IAEA do its job," Iranian Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said.

IAEA MEMBERS DIVIDED

The 35-nation IAEA board was divided over the transparency plan. The 15 Non-Aligned Movement nations on the board endorsed it as a significant step towards a peaceful outcome.

The United States, along with the European Union and other western allies, said it eased pressure on Tehran to heed U.N. resolutions against enrichment.

Western countries fear the plan buys time for Iran to start producing nuclear fuel in usable quantities.

But many in the EU are also wary of adopting stiffer sanctions before the IAEA pact has been given a chance.

"Germany would prefer to wait until at least the November IAEA report on Iran comes out to see if progress is being made on the (Iran-IAEA) action plan," one European diplomat said.

Russia and China -- which along with Britain, France and the United States make up the permanent members of the Security Council -- oppose tightening sanctions.

IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei appealed on Wednesday for support for the deal, saying Iran would still have to shelve uranium enrichment after resolving outstanding questions.

"This issue is very complex and linked to security in the Middle East region which is more than messy right now," he said, calling on everyone to find a peaceful solution. "I don't think we can afford to fail."

Iranian chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said Tehran was ready to "reach a 100 percent understanding about all issues" with the IAEA but dismissed pressure to stop enrichment.

"We have the knowledge. So we don't need to buy time," he told a news conference in Tehran.

Asked about U.S. talk of military action if sanctions and diplomacy prove futile, he said: "If they make such a mistake, it will be the last nail in the coffin of the neo-cons."

(Additional reporting by Parisa Hafezi in Tehran, Arshad Mohammed in Washington and Louis Charbonneau in Berlin)