It follows comments from Britain's UN envoy who said that the Security Council was likely to endorse demands by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran give assurances that it is not pursuing a covert nuclear weapons program.
Iranian negotiators were attending 11th hour talks in Moscow on a Russian plan aimed at easing global fears that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons.
As he left the talks Iran’s top negotiator, Ali Larijani, said that the enrichment process was the sovereign right of all states.
"States that have a peaceful nuclear program must not be deprived of this right," said Iranian negotiator Ali Larijani.
An unnamed Russian source quoted by ITAR-TASS news agency said had the negotiations had ended with "no decisive breakthrough."
He said that Iran and Russia were in agreement "in principle" on the plan, which envisages creation of a joint venture on Russian soil for enrichment of uranium.
"This needs to be refined from an economic and legal point of view, and this will take some time," the unidentified source said.
Voluntary moratorium
Russia had made clear it expected Iran to reinstate a voluntary moratorium on ultra-sensitive nuclear work but Mr Larijani did not address this issue directly.
In a joint statement released after the meeting and reported by the
Interfax news agency, Iran and Russia said they planned to continue consultations on ways to resolve the standoff over Tehran's nuclear program.
Both countries said it was important to work on resolving the impasse "through diplomatic means and within the framework of the IAEA," or
International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear supervisory organisation.
But Britain's UN envoy said IAEA board of governors, scheduled for Monday, would most likely report the Iran nuclear dossier to the Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions.
"We are not transferring the issue to the Security Council. What we're saying is the dossier is rightly in Vienna but it's right that the Security
Council should be appraised of the situation and should make clear its support for what the Board is asking," he noted. "That's what I would expect to happen."
However his comments appears to be at odds with the view expressed by US ambassador John Bolton that there is no difference between reporting and referring the issue to the council. A referral would open the way to possible sanctions.