European diplomats predicted Wednesday that the United States and the European Troika group, comprising France, Germany and Britain, will press for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to issue a resolution calling on Iran to cooperate fully with UN inspectors on suspicion of "undeclared nuclear activity," Axios reported.
The site also attributed to informed sources, whose identities were not disclosed, that the upcoming meeting of the IAEA Board was one of the main topics discussed by U.S. and Israeli officials at the White House on Tuesday.
Israeli officials have confirmed their desire for the Administration of U.S. President Joe Biden to press for a stronger decision to censure Iran at next week's IAEA board meeting, the sources said.
However, the United States has stressed that such a decision could completely close the door to a nuclear deal, which the Biden administration does not want, the sources said.
This comes as a draft resolution drafted by the United States and the E3 group, comprising France, Britain and Germany, called for a board of governors meeting next week to answer the agency's long-awaited questions about uranium traces found at three undisclosed sites in Iran.
The draft, sent to IAEA members, called on the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors to "act urgently to meet its legal obligations and immediately consider the IAEA Director General's presentation on the need for more answers and information to clarify and resolve all outstanding safety issues" regarding those Iranian sites, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Tehran, on the other hand, has pledged a "strong" response to any action it considers "uncons building" at the next board of governors meeting.
"Vienna negotiations have not stopped"
Iranian government spokesman Bhadri Jahrami said the Vienna nuclear negotiations between Tehran and world powers "have not stopped."
The government spokesman added that Iran "showed its seriousness and good will" during the negotiations, which aim to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
In its latest report, the agency revealed that the Iranian authorities had not crediblely responded to long-standing questions about the source of uranium traces found at three undisclosed sites despite new efforts to achieve a breakthrough.
It also considered that Tehran "did not provide technically credible explanations and explanations regarding what was found at those sites".
Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium was 60 percent pure, close to the 90 percent required to manufacture nuclear weapons.
The lack of progress in resolving outstanding issues between the two sides could lead to a new diplomatic rift between Tehran and the West when the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors meets.
If Western powers seek a resolution criticizing Tehran, it would be an additional blow to the currently stalled or frozen efforts, at least in reviving the nuclear deal signed in 2015.