World powers press Iran on nuclear issue

Representatives of six world powers have urged Iran to accept a UN proposal aimed at delaying its ability to build a nuclear weapon.

Senior diplomats from the UN Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany made the appeal on Friday during their meeting in Brussels.

An unnamed EU official says the diplomats made no mention of imposing new sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment activities. They only urged Iran to reconsider the proposal made by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which asks Iran to send low-grade enriched uranium to Russia and France for further processing.

Tehran turned down the IAEA proposal on Wednesday, saying it considers only simultaneous nuclear fuel swap on its soil.