Russia said on Wednesday it wanted to refrain from taking action before a UN deadline set for Tehran to halt uranium enrichment expired, but a top US official believed other countries were inching towards action.
Tensions remained high, with oil prices hitting a new high above $73, partly driven by fears the dispute could disrupt shipments from the world's fourth-largest oil exporter.
"What I heard in the room last night was not agreement on the specifics but to the general notion that Iran has to feel isolation and that there is a cost to what they are doing," US Under-secretary of State Nicholas Burns told reporters.
"Now we need to go beyond that and agree on the specifics of what measures we need to put that into operation," he said.
He said Iran's shock announcement last week that it had enriched uranium to a low level and planned to produce it on an industrial scale had focused the minds of the international community.
The United States and its European allies say Tehran could divert highly enriched uranium to make bombs.
"What is new is a greater sense of urgency given what the Iranians did last week ... Nearly every country is considering some sort of sanctions and that is a new development. We heard last night and again today that all of those that spoke are looking at sanctions," Burns said.
In a surprise development, an Iranian delegation appeared later in the day in Moscow for talks with officials from the so-called EU3 - Britain, France and Germany - although one European official said he did not expect a "breakthrough".
The UN Security Council on March 29 gave Iran a month to halt enrichment and answer questions from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on its nuclear programme.
VETO POWER: Russia and China, which both have veto power in the council, say they are not convinced sanctions would work. US officials had hoped to use the talks to persuade them to take a tougher line on Iran, which it suspects of seeking nuclear weapons.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said some countries, including Russia, wanted to wait until the UN nuclear watchdog reports on Iranian compliance on April 28 before acting.
"We are convinced of the need to wait for the IAEA report due at the end of the month," Lavrov told reporters.
An Iranian delegation headed to Moscow for talks on the dispute, Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki told state radio.
He said officials from the Foreign Ministry and the Supreme National Security Council would "discuss possible solutions which could pave the way to reach a comprehensive understanding based on a recognition of Iran's right to nuclear technology".
Iran says it only wants nuclear power for civilian use, but Russia said Tehran was not responding to international demands.
One diplomat from a country that opposes Iran's nuclear ambitions, said Iran could suggest a "pause".
"This is to prepare the ground for renewing negotiations with the Europeans," the diplomat, said about the proposal. It was unclear how long the pause would be.
A senior EU3 diplomat said the Iranians were welcome to present such an initiative and halt their enrichment research work. But it would have to be more than a brief technical pause in order for the Europeans to revive negotiations with Tehran.
Burns said Washington was opposed to allowing Iran any kind of pause, calling some of Iran's negotiating positions "a ruse".
Market worries that the nuclear crisis might disrupt Iranian oil exports pushed oil above $73 a barrel, a fresh record.
Tuesday's meeting of deputy foreign ministers from Russia, China, the United States, Germany, France and Britain underlined international differences over punitive action against Iran.
All the powers have said they are determined to solve the problem through diplomatic means, but the United States is alone among them in not ruling out military action.
High-level diplomacy will continue with US President George W. Bush planning to raise the issue with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, who is visiting the United States.
Iran will also be on the agenda when German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets Russian President Vladimir Putin in the western Siberian city of Tomsk next week.
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