Special report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

    UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- The UN Security Council rescheduled a delayed vote on a European draft resolution imposing sanctions against Iran over its unyielding nuclear program till Saturday.

    Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser of Qatar, Council President for December, said on Friday the council is expected to take action on Saturday morning.

    A UN diplomat said on condition of anonymity that the five nations - the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany - who hold consultation with Russia on the resolution are waiting for the final decision of Moscow.

    Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Thursday that there were still "two or three" difficult issues unsolved, calling for "further thinking and maybe further discussion of the draft resolution."

    The six major nations will hold consultation as soon as they get the latest amendment of Russia, and may go to vote as early as Saturday, the diplomat said.

    The draft, originally set to vote on Friday, is sponsored by Britain, France and Germany. It would slap a ban on imports and exports of materials and technology relating to uranium enrichment,reprocessing and heavy-water reactors, as well as ballistic missile delivery systems.

    However, the Europeans made a number of changes to the draft to meet Russian concerns, including watered down a contentious proposal for a travel ban on some Iranian officials directly linked to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.