China and Russia refused Tuesday to join with other big powers in threatening sanctions over Iran's nuclear programme during diplomatic jostling at the UN nuclear watchdog.
In a further blow to US efforts to present a united front at the International Atomic Energy Agency talks, non-aligned nations prepared a statement reaffirming Tehran's right to enrich uranium.
Diplomats played down the significance of the cracks, however, saying IAEA members would try not to hinder an international offer to Iran of benefits if it reins in its nuclear ambitions. "Everybody feels they want this package (of benefits) to have every possible chance of success," a Western diplomat told AFP.
China and Russia - both Iranian allies and trading partners - had joined Britain, France, Germany and the United States on June 1 in urging Iran to halt enrichment and join talks guaranteeing it will not make nuclear arms. The offer threatened UN Security Council action, including sanctions, if Iran failed to comply.
A second Western diplomat said the United States had been seeking a new statement in Vienna from the six world powers setting out both possible benefits and sanctions for Iran.
But Russia and China were reluctant to sign up. Russia and China "didn't want a reference to sanctions or punitive actions," the diplomat said. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed Iran with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing by telephone, a Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman said in Beijing.
"China will continue to play a constructive role to help peacefully solve the Iran nuclear issue through negotiations," the Chinese spokesman said on the ministry's Internet site.
A senior European diplomat said the failure to agree on a joint statement at the IAEA board here was no surprise. The six world powers had never managed to get a united statement on the matter at the IAEA, which oversees co-operation by nations with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the European diplomat said.
A vigorous debate on Iran but no resolution is expected at this week's meeting in Vienna of the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors, with the Iranian issue due to come up officially Thursday or Friday.
The EU-3, which have spearheaded negotiations with Iran, are expected to issue a joint statement of their own. Each of the six powers engaged with the Iran nuclear crisis will also issue individual statements. Iran is examining the major powers' offer of benefits and is expected to respond by the end of the month.
Iranian MP Kazem Jalali said in Tehran Tuesday that Iran will not suspend uranium enrichment - a key precondition set by the major powers for talks - and is only willing to negotiate on the modalities of the sensitive work, which makes nuclear reactor fuel but also atom bomb material.
A Western diplomat said the IAEA meeting had "no influence on the overall situation," although this diplomat and others admitted that Iran would try to exploit any division, perceived or real, among the world powers.
Delegates from several non-aligned nations, of which China is a member, were nevertheless preparing a statement that supported Iran's right to enrichment, as enshrined in the NPT, diplomats said.
A non-aligned diplomat said his group would "hold to a statement made by non-aligned foreign ministers in Kuala Lumpur in May," that backs Iran's right to enrich.
Diplomats said Washington was fighting to prevent non-aligned states on the IAEA board from issuing such a statement as the United States wants to keep up pressure on Iran. But many non-aligned states aspire to nuclear technology and are as much concerned about protecting their right to enrich uranium as Iran's, diplomats said.
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