U.S., Europe step up Iran plans

Faced with an increasingly hard line from Iran, the United States and Europe have stepped up planning for tougher diplomatic action should Tehran follow through on threats to resume critical nuclear activities, according to U.S. officials and European diplomats.

The U.S. and its European allies are seeking agreement among themselves on precisely when Iran's nuclear program will have progressed to the point that the matter should be taken to the U.N. Security Council and what kinds of sanctions might be pursued there, the officials and diplomats said.

Tehran insists it only aims to produce civilian nuclear energy. Allies say the program is to produce weapons.

Russia, which is building Iran's nuclear power plant at Bushehr in southern Iran, remains a serious impediment. The United States fears that weapons grade plutonium could be extracted from the Bushehr reactor once it goes on line.

The United States and major European nations - Britain, France and Germany -- have long threatened to bring the issue to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

'Bush administration officials considering harder approaches'

But negotiations appear at an impasse and new Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has alarmed the world with aggressive calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map." 

"Increasingly, we feel the Iranians are just not interested in any sort of privately negotiated solution to this problem, that what they are interested in is a political confrontation over it," one European diplomat told Reuters.

The Bush administration is under growing pressure from Congress and pro-Israel groups to toughen its stance toward Tehran. They want the nuclear issue referred to the U.N. Security Council, where sanctions could be imposed.

A pro-Israel advocate said administration officials "are considering harder approaches. Things are moving on a faster track."

Germany may ask U.N to punish Iran for Holocaust remarks

Also under discussion is what the United States and other states would consider their "red line" - the point at which Iran has crossed into a dangerous activity that cannot be tolerated.

"We cannot achieve anything until we are certain we see things the same way," a European diplomat said.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Associated Press U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signaled that the United States has all but written off international negotiations to head off Iran's disputed nuclear program and is waiting for other nations to come to the same conclusion.

Rice predicted that the United States would have enough votes at the U.N. Security Council to impose international sanctions against Iran but hinted she was waiting for other nations to join such an effort.

"We also recognize that it is important for others to also come to the conclusion that we've exhausted the diplomatic possibilities," Rice said.

On Saturday a senior government German official said the country plans to ask the United Nations Security Council to punish Iran for remarks made by its president questioning the reality of the Holocaust.