EU vows diplomacy can still solve Iran crisis

"We still can reach a diplomatic solution, we want a diplomatic solution," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Salzburg, Austria.

"They should take the hands that we have held out to them to come to a compromise solution," she added, citing notably a Russian proposal to carry out uranium enrichment on behalf of Tehran.

Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country currently holds the 25-nation bloc's rotating presidency, added: "We will continue to work on a diplomatic solution."

"We are entering a new phase now," she added, referring to the referral this week of the Iran issue to the UN Security Council in New York, after efforts at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) failed to break the deadlock.

"We remain committed to the same goals as before," she added.

The Europeans have spearheaded efforts to engage Tehran diplomatically over its nuclear plans, which the United States in particular suspects of providing cover for work to develop a nuclear weapon.

But those efforts were suspended after Tehran resumed sensitive atomic activities, which it had renounced under a November 2004 accord with the Europeans in Paris.

Also Friday, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana refused to rule out eventual UN sanctions against Tehran.

"Let's wait and see what the Security Council will do. We must weigh up all options," he told the Austrian daily Der Standard in an interview.