US-EU rift surfaces over Iran's nuclear programme

A US-European rift was surfacing over how harshly to deal with Iran and its suspect nuclear program, with the Europeans ignoring American suggestions and circulating their own recommendations to other delegates at a key meeting of the UN atomic agency.

Diplomats at a board of governors meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency had suggested earlier that America and the European Union were making progress in drafting common language for a resolution that would set a deadline for Iran to meet demands designed to dispel fears it was trying to make nuclear arms.