The United States may turn to the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency to exert more pressure on Iran, diplomats said Wednesday.

U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns gestures as he speaks during a news conference in Moscow, Wednesday, April 19, 2006. Burns said Wednesday that a majority of the countries that are permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Group of Eight members support possible sanctions against Iran in the dispute over the country's nuclear program. [AP]

The diplomats told The Associated Press that the U.S. delegation to the International Atomic Energy Agency has contacted other nations over the past few days to gauge support for a special IAEA board meeting on Iran's nuclear program.

The envoys, who were familiar with the discussions but spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to reveal the American initiative, emphasized that no decisions had been made.

Adam Ereli, a State Department spokesman, said the United States was waiting for a report later this month by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei about Iran's nuclear program.

"We will study that report carefully and decide on next steps at that time," Ereli said.

Still, diplomats' statements that Washington might consider such action were significant.

U.S. officials have for weeks been publicly in favor of shifting international attention over Iran's nuclear program from the Vienna-based IAEA ¡ª which has no enforcement authority ¡ª to the Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions backed by the threat of military force.

Years of U.S. lobbying paid off in February, when the IAEA's 35-nation board agreed to refer Iran's nuclear file to the Security Council. But since then, the council's five veto-holding members have been divided, with Russia and China opposing efforts by the U.S., France and Britain to move from requesting Iranian compliance to demanding it.

The split appeared to persist Wednesday.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov urged Iran to halt all uranium enrichment after a meeting in Moscow among senior officials of the five permanent council members plus Germany, but he acknowledged the talks produced no decision on how to proceed if Tehran failed to comply.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns told AP in Moscow that the possibility of sanctions had been discussed but indicated more talks were needed.

"What is new is a greater sense of urgency given what the Iranians did last week," Burns said later to reporters, alluding to Iran's announcement that it had succeeded in enriching uranium.

Burns, echoing a statement Tuesday by President Bush, did not reject the possibility of a military response.

"Obviously, the United States always keeps all options on the table ... but we're focused on diplomacy," he said.

In Paris, French President Jacques Chirac and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said they opposed military intervention in Iran.

"We have to explore all the possibilities offered by a diplomatic option in order to avoid a destabilization of the Middle East, and probably of the rest of the world," Chirac said at a joint news conference.

Military strikes on Iran "would have very grave effects" on the region, Mubarak said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush's closest ally in the invasion of Iraq, told his Parliament that "nobody is talking about military invasion" of Iran.

But he also urged the international community to send a strong, unified message to Tehran. "I do not think it is time to send a message of weakness," he said.

Lavrov said no decisions had been expected at Tuesday's meeting because the nations were waiting for the IAEA's report. He said Russia wants the report to be reviewed by the IAEA board before it goes to the Security Council.

The council has set an April 28 deadline for Iran to suspend production of enriched uranium, a material that can be used to fuel nuclear reactors that generate electricity or to make nuclear bombs.

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but the United States and dozens of other countries fear it wants the technology to make the core of nuclear warheads.

The enrichment issue has gained urgency because of recent claims by Iran that if true would bring it closer to the capability for making atomic bomb weapons.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said a week ago that his country was testing a sophisticated centrifuge to enrich uranium. A day earlier, Ahmadinejad had trumpeted Iran's success in enriching a small amount of uranium using 164 less-sophisticated centrifuges.

Neither claim has been publicly confirmed by the IAEA. Iran would need at least 1,000 of the less advanced P-1 centrifuges working for over a year to produce enough nuclear material for a bomb. Two diplomats, speaking separately, said the IAEA planned to send in two teams of investigators this week to follow up on both claims ahead of ElBaradei's report.