UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council yesterday moved another step toward confronting Iran’s intransigence and to deterring the mullahs’ regime from developing nuclear weapons.

Britain and France circulated an American-backed resolution proposal that, if enacted, would impose “measures” to force Iran to suspend all nuclear enrichment activities and allow the U.N. nuclear watchdog to verify that it has done so.

Germany’s Chancellor, Angel Merkel, met President Bush in the White House yesterday and stressed the need for unity among those nations that oppose Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The resolution does not immediately threaten sanctions, but diplomats acknowledge that the proposed action sets the council on the road to much more muscular diplomacy than it has so far enacted to stop the mullahs’ nuclear race.

China and Russia, who have the power to veto any council resolution, oppose sanctions. Both indicated initial opposition to the proposal yesterday, but neither country said it would block the resolution if it came to a vote. Intense negotiations are expected within the next few days.

Declaring Iran’s nuclear program and its potential to be transferred to other rogue regimes constitutes a “threat to international peace and security,” the proposed resolution is enforceable under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which could lead to such measures as international sanctions and even military action.

“I don’t think the draft as it is now will produce good results,” Beijing’s ambassador, Wang Guangya, said after yesterday’s consultations. The proposal could become a basis for negotiations only “if they redraft it,” he told The New York Sun.

China opposes the reference to Iran as a “threat,” and the paragraph that says the council would “consider such further measures as may be necessary” to ensure Iran’s compliance with the resolution, Mr. Wang said. When asked if he would veto the proposed resolution as its stands, however, he said he would have to consult those higher up in his government.

“It’s a very straightforward” proposal, American Ambassador John Bolton said. “This is not complicated. It does not require a lot of negotiations.”

He said he hoped that by early next week, when foreign ministers of the five permanent council members and Germany meet in New York, the council would have already voted on the resolution, “so they can talk about the bigger picture and next steps.”

Mrs. Merkel’s meeting with Mr. Bush follows her visit last week with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia and China, permanent members of the Security Council who have the power of veto.

On Tuesday the political directors of the foreign ministries of the main powers met in Paris to discuss the resolution. Consultations also continue between foreign ministers as well as among the council ambassadors.

Asked about the Chinese and Russian opposition, the French U.N. ambassador, Jean Marc de la Sabliere, said, “We are used to negotiations, and we know that it is probably possible” to pass the resolution. As for any possible incentives for the two opposing countries, Mr. de la Sabliere hinted that the call for “further measures” against Iran might later be dropped, saying it is “not mandatory.”

Mr. Bolton said that even if the council fails to reach an agreement, America would intensity the diplomatic pressure on Iran. “The imperative of stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons requires that the United States and those who agree with it on that point look at a variety of steps that we could take through peaceful diplomatic means,” he said. “Certainly we’d like to do that within the Security Council, but it would not be prudent to ignore other options.”

Over her two day visit to America, Mrs. Merkel will discuss the Middle East, Darfur, trade, her scheduled visit to China next month, and the July G-8 summit in Russia with Mr. Bush.

After meeting the president at the White House, the chancellor joined him and Mrs. Bush for dinner. Today she travels to New York for a meeting with business leaders before returning to Washington to address the American Jewish Committee’s 100th anniversary gala, the first German chancellor to give a speech to the organization.

She is expected to mention Iran’s intransigence in the face of international pressure and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s statement that Israel should be “wiped off the face of the map.”