LONDON: All five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — Britain, the United States, France, China and Russia — and the European Union on Tuesday agreed to urge the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ``report'' Iran to the U.N. on its controversial nuclear programme. The 35-member IAEA board meets in Vienna on Thursday.

But significantly they left the door open for a last-minute compromise, saying the Security Council should not take any action on the IAEA's recommendation till March. This is seen as a concession to Russia and China, which are opposed to a confrontationist approach and are for a negotiated solution.

During the ``cooling off'' period, efforts would be made to get Iran to agree to a compromise deal, under which its uranium enrichment programme could be carried out in Russia.

At a meeting with E.U. officials in Brussels on Monday, Iran was reported to have suggested amendments to the original Russian proposal. Further talks to fine-tune the deal are to be held between Iran and Russia in Moscow on February 16.

The decision to call upon the IAEA to take the issue to the Security Council was taken after a meeting here of the so-called ``Quartet'' group which, besides the five permanent members, includes Germany.

The talks, attended by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and other E.U. Foreign Ministers, started late on Monday and continued till early on Tuesday.

In a joint statement, the group said the IAEA ``should report to the Security Council its decision on the steps required of Iran, and should also report to the Security Council all IAEA reports and resolutions as adopted relating to this issue.'' It called for an "extensive period of confidence-building'' by Iran after its recent actions such as the decision to break the U.N. seals on a nuclear facility, triggering protests in Western capitals.

There were serious differences behind the apparent public show of unity, it is understood. A French official was reported by the Associated Press as saying Russia and China were reluctant to go with the idea of referring Iran to the U.N. but were ``persuaded'' to agree in order to present a ``united front.''

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