Iran 'crossed red line' in nuclear programme: Merkel

European foreign ministers accused Iran of “concealment and deception” over its nuclear programme, urging the United Nations Security Council to get involved after more than two years of inconclusive negotiations.

Last night German chancellor Angela Merkel added her voice to the crisis, saying Iran had “crossed the red line” and should be faced down by Europe and the United States.

Merkel, starting a one-day visit to Washington, said it was clear “that Iran is provoking and has crossed the red line. We have worked to show Iran that the community of stats will not be provoked”.

Earlier, UN secretary-general Kofi Annan said Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, had told him that Tehran was interested in “serious and constructive negotiations” with the European countries over its atomic programme, but favoured a deadline.

“He affirmed to me that they are interested in serious and constructive negotiations but within a timeframe, indicating that the last time they did it for two and a half years and no result,” Annan said.

In an interview with CNN, Larijani also said Iran wanted to reach agreement with Europe and Russia but “the question of our research is non-negotiable”.

He also said that an offer to enrich uranium on Russian territory and then ship it back to Iran to fuel nuclear power stations “would be a good basis for negotiations”.

“Iran has the absolute right to enrich,” Larijani said. “Meanwhile, the other side has proposed that for a while the issue of enrichment could be resolved in a different way. This is worth discussing. I think we can reach an agreement that could suit today’s circumstances.”

The diplomats from France, Germany and Britain held back from calling for the council to impose sanctions and said they remained open to yet more talks.

Negotiations aimed at getting Iran to permanently abandon uranium enrichment had reached “an impasse”, the diplomats said, citing what they called a “documented record of concealment and deception”.

In a joint statement, they said Iran seemed “intent on turning its back on better relations with the international community”.

The ministers called for a special session of the International Atomic Energy Agency to decide the referral to the security council, which could impose sanctions. The European statement came two days after Iran broke UN seals at a uranium enrichment plant and said it was resuming nuclear research after a two-year freeze.

Highly-enriched uranium can be used to make a nuclear weapon, while uranium enriched to lower levels can serve as fuel. Iran will not back down, saying its programme is peaceful; the US says Iran aims at eventually producing weapons.

“From our point of view, the time has come for the UN Security Council to become involved,” German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after meeting his French and British counterparts and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

Steinmeier said the three countries would inform the IAEA board “that our talks with Iran have reached a dead end”. He stressed that the Europeans remained ready to solve the problem “diplomatically, multilaterally and by peaceful means”.

Although the security council could impose sanctions, European officials remained reluctant to discuss the idea. The foreign ministers did not mention the possibility, and French officials said “it’s too premature to talk about sanctions”.

An Iranian official said the issue could still be solved through negotiations. “Iran still believes diplomacy could be productive,” supreme national security council spokesman Hossein Entezami said in a statement broadcast on state television.

He said Iran’s programme remained within the IAEA framework and urged the Europeans not to challenge the Iranian people’s demand for nuclear energy, or to lead diplomatic channels to a dead end by what he called “their unwise decisions”.

European efforts to take action against Iran are focusing on convincing Russia and China, which in the past have opposed taking the issue to the security council.

Russian experts are helping to build a nuclear reactor at Bushehr in Iran, and China is a major customer for Iranian oil and gas. And sanctions that restrict Iran’s ability to sell oil could raise already high oil prices, hurting Western economies.

In Washington, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, co-ordinating with European allies, called on the United Nations to confront Iran’s “defiance” and demand that Tehran halt its nuclear programme. She said she was “gravely concerned” by Iran’s secret operations.