Deputy Foreign Minister He Yafei told reporters on Thursday that the resolution, to be voted on by the 35-nation IAEA governing board later this week, was meant as a signal to Iran to respond to a nuclear dispute proposal.

"We hope that the IAEA (board) can send a signal that Iran should indeed respond to the IAEA proposal as soon as possible. At the same time, we hope that this issue can be resolved through consultation," He said.

On being asked if China supported the proposal, He said, "In principle, we are giving consideration to this."

Diplomats are predicting majority approval for the resolution in a vote in Vienna on Thursday or Friday in what would be its first action against Iran in almost four years.

International consensus?

China's cautious approval comes as Russia also called on Iran to abide by an accord allowing Iran to enrich uranium abroad under the supervision of the IAEA.

Moscow issued the appeal in a meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Iran's ambassador to Russia, Seyed Mahmoud Reza Sajjadi, the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The Russian side stressed the need to observe the principals of the basic deal reached at negotiations on this problem in Geneva on October 1," the statement said.

The Geneva talks involving Iran and six world powers - Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Russia and China - laid the groundwork for an IAEA-brokered proposal under which Iran would ship out most of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium for further processing by Russia.

But Iran has not yet responded, and appears reluctant to let go of its uranium after weeks of international talks. An agreement that would allay Western fears that Tehran wants to use its nuclear energy program to build an atomic bomb still seems a long way off.

Russia has the strongest ties with Iran of any major power, and its capacity to provide technical help for Iran's nuclear drive is seen by some analysts as giving it essential leverage in Tehran.

Disappointed ElBaradei

The outgoing head of the UN's atomic watchdog agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, expressed "disappointment" Thursday over Iran and said efforts to verify the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear ambitions had reached a dead end.

In his last meeting as director-general of the IAEA, ElBaradei told its governing board that recent proposals which have been snubbed by Iran could have paved the way for comprehensive dialogue.

"I am disappointed that Iran has not so far agreed to the original proposal or the alternative modalities, both of which I believe are balanced and fair and would greatly help to alleviate the concerns relating to Iran's nuclear program," the Egyptian diplomat said at the start of the two-day meeting.

bk/AFP/Reuters

Editor: Kyle James