Iran Resolution

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier made the announcement at a press conference after the foreign ministers of the six countries had met.

"We agreed on the contents of the next Security Council resolution," Steinmeier said. "Germany, France and Great Britain are going to submit the draft of such a text to the Security Council," he said, adding that the Security Council would then discuss the matter in the normal way.

Steinmeier provided no details of the text of the draft and said further discussions would continue into Tuesday night. The other foreign ministers present did not speak, and no questions were

allowed from the media.

It is widely expected the third resolution will contain stringent sanctions.

Steinmeier, who called the meeting at short notice, had already predicted agreement and said he was particularly pleased that his Russian and Chinese counterparts were attending.

Dual track approach

Steinmeier said the six were "concerned about Iran's nuclear activities," adding that a nuclear-armed Iran "would have dramatic consequences for the Middle East and beyond."

The six intended to continue to pursue the "dual track" approach, with UN sanctions providing pressure, while they were also offering cooperation if Tehran complied with the demands of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA).

Iran had promised to cooperate with the IAEA, he noted, saying the six hoped that this would occur in the weeks ahead.

"We all want a solution to this matter," Steinmeier said.

Defiant Iranians

Tehran was defiant in the face of the renewed pressure.

"The Iranian nation moves towards realization of its (nuclear) aims within a legal and legitimate framework and even a new UN resolution would not change this drive," government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham said Tuesday in the Iranian capital before the meeting began.

Iran has called for the Security Council to return the dossier on its nuclear program to the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to avoid "politicizing" the issue.

IAEA Secretary General Mohammed ElBaradei met President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran on Jan. 12, where the two sides agreed a four-week working plan to resolve outstanding issues.

The six nations do not deny Iran's right to pursue civilian nuclear power but remain suspicious of its uranium enrichment program.

Apart from Rice and Steinmeier, those attending were China's Yang Jiechi, Russia's Sergei Lavrov, France's Bernard Kouchner and Britain's David Miliband. The European Union's foreign policy head, Javier Solana, was also to be present.