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Meeting on Iran's nuclear program on for tomorrow

A meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany to discuss a UN resolution on Iran's nuclear program will go ahead tomorrow, after Russia on Saturday withdrew a statement saying it had been called off due to disagreements.

"The meeting of political directors of the six [countries] will take place on Tuesday," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on arrival in Moscow from talks in Egypt, it was reported.

Earlier, the same agencies reported Lavrov as saying that the meeting had been cancelled because some of the participants were "avoiding continuing the job."

A foreign ministry spokesman in Paris confirmed that the meeting would take place "early next week" but was unable to name the venue.

Amid the confused signals, there was little sign that the group, known as "P5-plus-one" -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US -- was any closer to bridging wide disagreements.

The US and its European allies are seeking sanctions under Chapter 7 of the UN charter, which legally obliges all UN members to comply with the punitive measures.

In an apparent warning to Moscow and Beijing, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday that the US might try to force through a UN resolution imposing sanctions without their support, although she still hoped to obtain agreement among the six.

"Obviously we'd like to keep the unity of the `P5-plus-one,' but unity is not an end in itself," Rice said after talks with Arab officials in Jordan.

A draft resolution circulated by Britain, France and Germany would have barred trade with Iran in goods related to its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and slapped financial and travel restrictions on persons and agencies involved in the sectors.

But Russia and to a lesser extent China, which have extensive economic and energy ties with Iran, have tried to water down the resolution.

"We will proceed from the principle that the goal of this document will not be to punish Iran," Lavrov said on Saturday.
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