The meeting came amid increasing concern about Iran's intentions after diplomats in Vienna reported the Islamic republic was defying the international community by resuming the construction and assembly of nuclear centrifuges.

"I think it is getting more and more likely that this matter is going to have be referred to the Security Council," Powell told reporters accompanying him on a visit to Kuwait.

"Iran has made clear they do not intend to abide by their commitments," he said.

Under an agreement reached last year with Britain, France and Germany, Iran had agreed to suspend sensitive uranium enrichment, allow tougher inspections and file a comprehensive declaration of its nuclear activities.

"We are at a very important juncture. In general terms, we need to impress on Iran that trust still needs to be built, and that is up to the Iranians," said one Western diplomat ahead of the talks at the French foreign ministry.

French foreign ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous said the talks would bring together "high-level officials" and were aimed at "establishing trust" with respect to Iran's nuclear program.

The agreement was aimed at allaying international fears that Iran was secretly developing nuclear weapons, a charge that Tehran denies.

But since then, experts from the UN's nuclear watchdog have found omissions in Iran's reporting, inspection visits have been delayed and the regime has backed away from a pledge to suspend all enrichment-related activities.

Diplomats in Vienna said Wednesday that Iran had removed the seals placed on centrifuges by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure Tehran was not using its civilian nuclear program as a cover for weapons development.

The centrifuges are used to enrich uranium for use in nuclear power plants, but highly enriched uranium can also be used to make nuclear warheads.

"Actions like resuming making centrifuges do not improve confidence," the Western diplomat said.

In Washington, deputy US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli called reports on the centrifuges "disturbing" and "a direct challenge to the IAEA's call on Iran to suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities."

In Tehran, the deputy head of the Iranian parliament's foreign policy and security commission, Mohamoud Mohammadi, said the assembly would not ratify an additional security protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Following major pressure from the IAEA and the international community, Iran signed the protocol -- which would give IAEA inspectors increased powers -- in December last year, but has yet to ratify it.

Tehran says it is no longer bound to its deal with the so-called European "big three" because they sponsored a resolution adopted by the IAEA last month, which criticized Tehran for failing to cooperate.

Diplomats said Thursday's talks were part of regular discussions between the Europeans and Tehran, and was not called as a response to recent events.

Ladsous noted that "discussions are ongoing with the Iranian authorities with a view to obtaining guarantees on the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program."

"There are a number of outstanding issues that urgently need to be cleared up. We have to look at ways in which we can do this," said the Western diplomat.

The Western diplomat said the deal between the Europeans and Iran had been successful in that the IAEA "now has a better understanding of the Iranian nuclear program than ever before," with inspectors working on the ground.

But the source warned: "There are outstanding issues which give rise to serious suspicions. Patience is finite and the Iranians have to realize that."

All rights reserved. Copyright 2003 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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