Visiting U.S. top nuclear negotiator said here Monday that the UN Security Council would have to undertake sanctions if Iran was not serious about negotiating or suspending its uranium enrichment.

Gregory Schulte, U.S. permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) who was visiting here, made the remarks after meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.

"If it is apparent that Iran is not serious about negotiating, (and) if it is clear that Iran is not serious about suspending uranium enrichment activities, then the UN Security Council will have to act to undertake sanctions," said Schulte.

What made the U.S. really concerned was that a peaceful nuclear program didn't need enrichment and so the U.S. believed it was part of a military nuclear program, Schulte said.

He noted that his country was assessing the Iranian step after it launched a heavy water plant last Saturday as well as the Iranian response to the western-proposed package of incentives.

The U.S. also awaited the report prepared by Director-General of the IAEA Mohammed ElBaradei on Iran's nuclear program to be released on Aug. 31, the U.S. official said.

Both the U.S. and Egypt shared serious concerns about Iran's nuclear program, Schulte said.

Abul Gheit, for his part, said that it was important to deal cautiously with the Iranian nuclear issue in the coming period.

The Egyptian foreign minister stressed that two important points should be taken into account: the Middle East region should be declared free from weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons without any exception and peoples of the region were not prepared to face more wars and armed conflicts.

The Iranian nuclear crisis should be peacefully resolved, he said, adding that Arab and Islamic nations wished for an effective U.S. intervention to revive the Mideast peace process.

The UN Security Council has recently adopted a resolution urging Iran to suspend by Aug. 31 all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, or it will face the prospect of sanctions.

Source: Xinhua