The United States said on Wednesday the row over Iran's suspected nuclear arms program was quickly coming to a head and was increasingly likely to end up before the UN Security Council.
Vice President Dick Cheney said referral to the council would be the probable next step after Iran announced resumption of nuclear research it had suspended for two years amid fears it was working on a bomb.
"What would be probably the number one item on the agenda would be the resolution that could be enforced by sanctions, were they (the Iranians) to fail to comply with it," Cheney told Fox News radio.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack echoed the sense of urgency, saying, "The international community is, I think, coming up very soon on a decision point on what the diplomatic next steps are."
"It is more likely than ever that we are headed to the (UN) Security Council on this question," McCormack told reporters at the department's daily briefing.
US officials have said they were in intense consultations with their allies and others as negotiations stalled on European efforts to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions with economic and other incentives.
US officials have said they were in intense consultations with their allies and others as negotiations stalled on European efforts to rein in Iran's nuclear ambitions with economic and other incentives.