UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Wednesday asked Iran to walk the extra mile in cooperation with his agency in a bid to solve the contentious nuclear issue, as Iran dismissed his latest report to the IAEA's board of governors as contradictory.

"There is complete agreement (in discussions) that Iran needs to go the extra mile and work with us," ElBaradei told reporters shortly after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) board concluded discussions over the nuclear issue.

The 35-member IAEA board was divided over the involvement of the Security Council, with the United States and the EU3 -- Britain, France and Germany -- insisting that the UN Security Council should now take up the issue.

ElBaradei said it is in the interest of Iran for the IAEA to clear all outstanding issues. The clarification of these issues will in turn have positive impacts on confidence-building measures.

He said there were divisions in the board discussions, but there were "common threads" throughout the process.

The common threads, he said, were calls for increasing transparency of Iran's nuclear activities, for more confidence-building measures from Iran and common wish for a political settlement of the issue.

He said his report on Iran would be conveyed to the UN Security Council on Wednesday or Thursday. Then it is up to the Security Council to decide whether or when to discuss the issue, or what action, if any, to take.

ElBaradei noted that people who talked about the involvement of the Security Council emphasized that this is just a new phase of diplomacy, not the end of it.

On the Iranian side, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi said on Wednesday, "Although ElBaradei reiterated that the IAEA witnessed no deviation from peaceful means or towards military purposes in Iran 's nuclear activities, his report emphasizes that Iran has to answer some questions on its nuclear program which still remain unanswered."

ElBaradei's report says that the IAEA has no proof that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons, at the same time, it dose not rule out the possibility of clandestine nuclear activities due to insufficient information.

Asefi blamed the United States for the current deadlock on the Iranian nuclear issue, saying that "the Americans have politicized the atmosphere in which no expert work can be done".

Iran also vowed tit-for-tat measures against the United States in the battle over the nuclear issue.

"The United States may have the power to cause harm and pain, but it is also susceptible to harm and pain," Javad Vaeidi, head of Iran's delegation to the IAEA board, told reporters.

Meanwhile, the United States sought the involvement of the United Nations Security Council in the Iran nuclear issue to enforce the IAEA's role and investigation.

"The time has come for the Security Council to act," U.S. ambassador Gregory Shulte told the meeting at the Vienna-based IAEA.

Shulte outlined the Security Council's approach, which he said should be incremental.

"It should emphasize that Iran will face consequences if it does not meet its obligations," the U.S. diplomat warned, but he insisted that the U.S. had not yet abandoned hopes for a diplomatic solution.

Also on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that there is no military solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.

"There is no military solution to this crisis," Lavrov told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York, stressing that both Britain and Germany hold the same position.

Lavrov confirmed that the EU is considering continued talks with Iran, saying "the EU troika suggested continued consultations in Vienna with the participation of Russia, the United States, China, Director-General (of the IAEA), and the Iranians."

France, Germany and Britain warned on Wednesday that an action by the United Nation's Security Council would be inevitable unless Iran changes its policy on nuclear issue.

"We believe that the time has come for the UN Security Council to reinforce the authority of the IAEA," said British ambassador to the IAEA Peter Jenkins, who made the statement on behalf of the EU3 powers.

"This is not, however, the end of diplomacy, and we remained to work for a negotiated solution," said the British diplomat.

Other countries, especially those of the Non-Aligned Movement, argued that the issue should be kept within the framework of the IAEA.

China called for the continuation of diplomatic efforts to tackle the Iranian nuclear issue, saying there is still room for settlement within the framework of the IAEA.

The dispute over Iran's nuclear issue escalated after Tehran resumed nuclear fuel research on Jan. 10, which sparked the IAEA decision to report its case to the UN Security Council.

Iran then stopped the IAEA's snap inspections of its nuclear sites and resumed small-scale uranium enrichment work.

Iran denied the U.S. charge of developing nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, insisting on its right to peaceful nuclear technology.

Source: Xinhua