But the resolution, passed by 27-3, puts off any UN action against Iran for at least a month, to give time for diplomacy to work before the next meeting in Vienna in March of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei will be filing a detailed report and assessment of the Iranian nuclear program for this March 6 meeting.

The text is a compromise between the US desire for immediate Security Council action against Iran and Russia's demand for a delay for more diplomacy.

Iran has threatened to retaliate if referred to the council.

The vote at this week's meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors was delayed Friday when Egypt insisted on adding a clause implying that Israel should give up its alleged atomic weapons.

The United States said this was a separate issue from the Iranian problem but Egypt pushed for a reference to a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East to be included in the resolution in order to represent Arab concerns over Israel's alleged nuclear weapons capacity, diplomats said.

The United States finally accepted a wording that stressed "weapons of mass destruction" instead of just nuclear arms, as this lifted the exclusive focus on Israel, a diplomat said.

The United States opposed the insertion but France, Germany and Britain -- the so-called "EU 3" -- have drafted a compromise formulation currently under consideration by Egypt, a diplomat said.

They propose a clause "recognising that a solution to the Iranian nuclear issue would contribute to the goal of a Middle East free of all weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery."

The US "will have to settle on some formulation, given how isolated they are," a second diplomatic said, pointing out that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was discussing this point with foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany.

But another Western diplomat downplayed the rift. During this "consultation phase" the aim was, he said, to get as many nations on board for the next crucial step in the international community's confrontation with Iran, which the United States claims in hiding a secret nuclear weapons programme.

Non-aligned states, meanwhile, were challenging the very idea of reporting Iran to the Security Council for possible sanctions, though with little influence on the deliberation process.

A Western diplomat said the resolution could be modified such that the moves against Iran would be "specific to this country" and not set a precedent that could interfere with a nation's right to use peaceful nuclear energy.