World powers convene in London Friday, to discuss future steps over Iran's nuclear program.
Foreign ministers of the five permanent U.N. Security Council members: the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China plus Germany are to discuss strategy, now that the European Union's efforts to persuade Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activity have apparently reached a dead-end.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was in Iraq Thursday, will attend the London meeting.
The U.S. and Britain want to move toward sanctions against Iran since it ignored a U.N. deadline of August 31 to stop enriching uranium.
But Russia's foreign minister has called for more diplomatic efforts to resolve the nuclear standoff.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Thursday, negotiations with Iran would still be possible, even when the U.N. Security Council discusses possible sanctions.
Earlier, Solana said "endless hours" of talks with Iranian officials have made little progress.
In New York, Britain's U.N ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry, said he expects Security Council members to begin sanctions talks next week, focusing on measures under Article 41 of the U.N. charter, which authorizes non-military sanctions.
On Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is not frightened by the threat of sanctions.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
