Negotiators were preparing for crucial European-Iranian talks today billed by six world powers as the last chance for Iran to avoid UN sanctions over its nuclear defiance.

Japan today pushed ahead with its proposal for UN sanctions against North Korea for its missile tests, and China dispatched diplomats to Pyongyang amid a campaign to lure the reclusive regime back to nuclear disarmament talks.

Six world powers are ready to offer Iran a new choice of rewards if it gives up suspect nuclear activities or punishment if it should refuse, a gambit that either could defuse a global confrontation with the Islamic state or hasten one.

The US diplomat leading six-nation talks in Paris today on Iran’s nuclear programme predicted that European governments would prepare a resolution for the UN Security Council that could allow for sanctions.

Leading diplomats from six nations were to meet in Paris today to discuss how they want the UN Security Council to respond to Iran’s refusal to stop nuclear activities.

US Under-secretary of State Nicholas Burns said today that a majority of the countries that are permanent members of the UN Security Council and Group of Eight members support possible sanctions against Iran in the dispute over the country’s nuclear programme.

A top US diplomat said envoys from five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany discussed sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, but failed to reach agreement on how to proceed.

The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency says a deal on Iran’s suspect nuclear programme could be only a few days away, making Security Council action unnecessary.

The United States accepted a Japanese proposal for the relocation of a US air base on Okinawa today, resolving a dispute that had blocked progress on military realignment talks and caused friction between the two allies.

Gen Ratko Mladic’s days as a war crimes fugitive may be numbered, according to a senior US State Department official who announced the US was lifting its freeze on a $10m (€8.2m) aid package to Serbia-Montenegro.