UNITED NATIONS, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Security Council held formal consultations Wednesday on a draft new resolution on Iran's nuclear program, with three members presenting amendments.

    South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar made proposals on amending the text of the draft cosponsored by Britain, France and Germany but agreed by China, Russia and the United States.

    The six countries will report "common ideas" to their capitals and come back for more consultations Thursday afternoon, said Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, the French ambassador.

    Sabliere said some of the proposals add clarity to the draft while others are "not consistent" with the incremental approach that increases pressure on Tehran.

    South Africa, the president of the Security Council for March, has proposed a 90-day suspension of the UN sanctions to allow "space for technical discussions" at the International Atomic Energy Agency and political negotiations" to achieve a peaceful and negotiated solution."

    Pretoria also proposed the deletion of the weapons ban and many financial sanctions from the draft.

    Qatar and Indonesia have both proposed adding in the draft a paragraph recalling the goal of a Middle East "free from weapons of mass destruction and all missiles for their delivery."

    While the proposed inclusion of references to the WMD-free Middle East are easier to get agreement, South Africa's amendments looks set to face more difficulties ahead.

    "What is clear is that Iran is noncompliant with mandatory obligations imposed by the Security Council," said British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry. "We think it would be perverse in response to that situation to say ... we now lift the obligations which currently apply to Iran."

    "It would be totally perverse," Parry said.