Special report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

    PARIS, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Six key nations have agreed to pass a new resolution to impose tougher sanctions on Iran regarding its nuclear issue at the United Nations Security Council, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said here Friday.

    Russia, Britain, France, Germany, the United States and China "are fully in agreement on the framework of a new resolution," Douste-Blazy said.

    Top diplomats from the six major powers agreed on Thursday during a telephone conference that the new resolution would be drafted under the terms of article 41 of the UN charter, which authorizes the Security Council to take all necessary measures, except military ones, to enforce its resolutions against Iran.

    The UN Security Council passed Resolution 1737 in December, requiring Iran to halt uranium enrichment immediately and imposing a ban on the sale of nuclear-related materials to that country.

    The push for harsher sanctions came after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed last week that Iran failed to suspend uranium enrichment activity by a 60-day U.N. Security Council deadline.

    Iran has been insisting that its nuclear activity is for purely civilian purposes, while the U.S. and some western countries believe it's for nuclear weapons capability.