Ambassadors of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany huddled behind closed doors early Tuesday and were to meet again later in the day.

"We had a good discussion, an intense exchange of views ...and I think we are moving closer and closer," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters after the morning seesion.

"We are moving rather smoothly toward our goal of having a draft resolution...We are not far away," he added.

But his US counterpart John Bolton said the envoys might have to refer the case back to their ministers.

"We have been at this this for some time now. We'll have to see if we are able to reach agreement or if we have to refer this to our ministers, at least some of whom will meet in Rome tomorrow," he added.

US Secretay of State Condoleezza Rice and her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov will be among foreign dignitaries what will attend a crisis meeting on Lebanon in Rome Wednesday.

Bolton said turning to the ministers might be necessary "to get a reaffirmation of the agreement made when they met last time to make mandatory on Iran the requirement that they suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities."

Ministers from the six powers tackling the Iranian nuclear issue decided earlier this month to send the Iran nuclear dossier back to the Security Council after Tehran failed to respond to a package of Western security and economic incentives in exchange for a suspension of its enrichment activities.

Iran reiterated Monday it will not halt sensitive uranium enrichment work.

"We are ready to discuss anything in negotiations ... (but) we will not accept any preconditions," Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters.

And top Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has said Iran will respond to the nuclear offer by August 22.

The draft resolution being discussed by the six envoys here would require Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities.

It "decides that Iran shall suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, to be verified by the IAEA (the UN nuclear watchdog), and suspend the construction of a reactor moderated by heavy water."

The text invokes articles 39 and 40 of Chapter Seven of the UN charter that stipulate "provisional measures" to be taken ahead of imposing tougher steps such as sanctions.

But it also expresses the council's intention in the event of Iran's non-compliance with the enrichment freeze demand "to adopt such further measures under Article 41 of Chapter Seven as may be necessary to ensure compliance."

Article 41 provides for a broad range of economic sanctions but does not authorize the use of force.

The text also calls on all states "immediately to take steps to prevent the transfer of any items, materials, goods and technology that could contribute to Iran's enrichment-related and reprocessing activities and ballistic missile programs."

It gives Iran up to an as yet undecided date in August to comply with the UN demands.

Iran denies Western charges that it is seeking to acquire a covert nuclear weapons capability and insists it wants to enrich uranium solely to make reactor fuel. It argues that this is a right under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which it signed.

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