UNITED NATIONS, March 23 (Xinhua) -- A final decision on a draft UN Security Council resolution on Iran has been delayed until late Friday afternoon, diplomats said.

    Consultations on the final text of the draft resolution slamming tougher sanctions on Tehran were adjourned shortly after noon for council members to report to their capitals for further instructions.

    "The negotiations are still going on," said South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo. "The reason why we are in these intense negotiations is because all of us are trying to find a way in which we can act in unanimity on this issue."

    The consultations may not resume until after 5:30 p.m. local time (2130 GMT) Friday afternoon, diplomats said.

    On Friday, Britain, France and Germany, the cosponsors of the draft resolution, came up with a revised text that incorporated some of the amendments proposed by Indonesia, Qatar and South Africa that "catch the mood of what members of the council wanted."

    But a 90-day "time out" of sanctions against Iran, a major proposal by Africa, was rejected.

    "It would have been to reward noncompliance by actually lifting the obligations. And that would be totally perverse," British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said.

    A proposal by Indonesia and Qatar calling for a "Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction and all missiles for their delivery" was also rejected as the United States regards it as a distraction from the main objective -- to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear enrichment activities.

    During Friday's consultations, Russia proposed a paragraph recognizing "that a resolution to the Iranian nuclear issue would contribute to global nonproliferation efforts, including those in the Middle East," according to a diplomat who attended the session, speaking on condition of anonymity.

    The timing of the vote on the draft is still be discussed.

    "The cosponsors want to vote tomorrow; some members of the council tried to convince the cosponsors to delay the voting till the beginning of the week," said Qatari Ambassador Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser. "I think the vote will take place tomorrow."

    The new draft, which only has minor differences if compared with its previous text, would include a ban on Iran's arms exports, a call for voluntary trade sanctions and an expanded list of Iranian officials and companies subject to travel and financial restrictions.

    The revised text, however, would include a paragraph emphasizing the role of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear watchdog, and reiterate the package of economic and diplomatic incentives offered by the six nations to Iran in exchange for its suspension of enrichment activities.

    Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans to defend Tehran's nuclear program at the Security Council on the day of the vote.

    U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said visas for Ahmadinejad and 38 other Iranian officials have been issued, though some visa forms for the air crew were still being processed.

    "At the end of the day, everybody gets the visas that they need in order to travel to the United Nations," McCormack said.