Iran should take 'final opportunity' to meet nuclear obligations, Britain says

The international community has given Iran a "final opportunity" to meet its nuclear obligations, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Wednesday. Straw met with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki for more than an hour Wednesday. The pair also met Tuesday at the conference on Afghanistan in London, he said.

"He (Mottaki) really needs to see this agreed position by the leaders of the international community, not as a threat but as an opportunity ... a final opportunity for Iran to put itself back on track," Straw told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.

At a late-night meeting in London on Monday, the five permanent U.N. Security Council members agreed that Iran should be reported to the body, a move that could eventually lead to sanctions.

The International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors is to meet in Vienna, Austria, on Thursday, and is expected to report Iran's nuclear program to the Security Council.

Mottaki said Tuesday that if that happened, Iran would end snap inspections of its facilities by U.N. monitors. Western nations fear Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear program is designed only to generate power, reports the AP. I.L.