Solana said the Russian proposal was tabled Monday at a meeting in London between senior diplomats from Britain, France and Germany -- the so-called EU-3 -- and their counterparts from China, Russia and the United States.

The aim is to buy more time for Moscow to try and negotiate a way out of the escalating nuclear crisis with Tehran. It would also give room for further discussions on a compromise deal that calls for Russia to enrich uranium on its soil on Iran's behalf.

"The position of Russia is the following: Why don't we have an extraordinary meeting (at the UN), debate the situation then go back to Vienna, continue discussions there and wait for the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) board meetings in March," Solana told reporters following discussions in Washington with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other senior diplomats.

If the Russian proposal were adopted it was unclear if it would mean scrapping an emergency meeting of the 35-member IAEA board on February 2 in Vienna. The annual IAEA board meetings are scheduled to begin March 6.

While not ruling out the Russian idea, Solana indicated it had little chance of winning support from Washington and the European Union.

"The timing is wrong," he said. "The actions of the Iranians require a rapid response."

He said a formal referral before the UN Security Council rather than a simple debate on the issue would carry more weight with Tehran.

"A referral has technical and legal consequences because it means the Security Council would seize that dossier," he said, adding that no UN sanctions could be imposed on Iran without a referral first to the Security Council.

"We think that this is the moment where pressure has to be increased" on the Iranians, Solana said, noting that negotiations on the issue in the last two years had failed to make headway.

"Pressure can be increased in many directions but the most important one is through the Security Council," he said. "At this point in time we think it is necessary to go back to the threat."

He said Iran's claims that it was not seeking to build nuclear weapons and that its aim was to develop technology for energy purposes alone was not convincing.

"We need guarantees that (Iran's) nuclear program is not a program that may deviate from peaceful use," he said.

Solana said he planned to further discuss the Iran crisis with Russian officials later Wednesday or Thursday.

"We think the Russians have an important role to play and hope that ... they will use their position in chairing the G8 to help solve this problem," he said.

Russia on January 1 assumed the chairmanship of the Group of Eight industrialized nations which also includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.

Solana also said military action against Iran was not being considered at this point and that the international community had "plenty of time" before Iran acquired the capacity to build a nuclear bomb.

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