Amidst the deepening Iran nuclear crisis, India and the United States have held consultations on the issue after Europe's big three powers called for United Nations Security Council action against Tehran.
US Ambassador to India David C Mulford met National Security Adviser M K Narayanan on Thursday, just hours after the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany reported that the two years of delicate negotiations with Tehran had reached a 'dead end', sources said on Friday.
Sources said Ambassador Mulford will hold more meetings with senior Indian officials over the issue in coming days.
India has been consistently trying to ensure that the Iran nuclear issue is not referred to the UNSC. New Delhi has been maintaining that negotiations within the International Atomic Energy Agency should be given a chance to sort out the matter.
However, after Iran resumed sensitive nuclear fuel activities on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany held a meeting in Geneva on Thursday and said they wanted an emergency meeting of the IAEA to refer the dossier to the UNSC.
"The talks with Iran are at a dead end," Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier told a joint press conference, adding, "We will be calling for an extraordinary IAEA board meeting."
'We believe the time has now come for the Security Council to become involved to reinforce the authority of IAEA resolutions', the troika said in a statement, referring to the IAEA.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said a planned meeting with Iranian officials on January 18 now 'no longer has reason to take place'.
Complete coverage: The Iran vote and after
