Western counties see the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in November as the "point of decision" on the issue of Iran's nuclear program, the Times said quoting an unnamed senior British official.

"Iran needs to meet its commitments," said another unnamed British official in the Guardian.

"We would like it to meet its commitments before then, but if it doesn't, Iran needs to know and it needs to know now, that there is going to be a decision point in November and at that point a very serious option ... is referral to the United Nations Security Council," he said.

"We cannot have any kind of negotiation that goes on for ever," the source said. "At some point you have got to decide whether negotiating further makes sense, or whether you need to do something else."

The Guardian said the new position was agreed by British, French and German foreign ministers at a meeting in the Netherlands at the weekend.

The deadline effectively marks the failure of more than a year of negotiations between Tehran and the European troika, the newspaper said.

Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot warned Wednesday that if the UN Security Council were to get involved in the controversy over Iran's nuclear programme it would spell the end of inspections in the Islamic republic.

The United States has accused Iran of covertly trying to develop a nuclear bomb and has sought to have the IAEA refer Tehran to the Security Council for possible sanctions.

Tehran maintains that it is merely trying to meet increasing domestic energy demands and free up its vast oil and gas reserves for export.

The IAEA's executive board of governors is due to begin meeting on the issue on September 13.

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