Iran issues warning to Europe

Speaking ahead of high-level crisis talks due to be held in Brussels and Geneva this week, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also warned it would take "unilateral decisions" if it faced diplomatic punishment.

"It is not legally possible to refer our case to the UN Security Council. Many counties believe there is no legal basis for it. So if one country pressures others to do it, they will be the losers, not the Islamic republic of Iran," he told reporters.

"We have taken the necessary measures and we are not afraid of being referred to the UN Security Council," he said, asserting again that "the decision regarding Isfahan is irreversible".

Iran agreed in November with Britain, France and Germany to suspend its uranium conversion and enrichment activities, which Washington believes conceals its nuclear armament intentions.

However the Islamic republic is seeking to resume uranium conversion at a plant near the central city of Isfahan, a move that would violate its deal with the EU-3 and leave it facing the threat of UN Security Council action.

Asefi said that if the Europeans went ahead with pushing the dossier to New York, "it means that an issue that could have been solved with negotiations has become a crisis over which the Europeans have no control."