UNITED NATIONS (AP) – Key Security Council nations agreed Tuesday to present Iran with a choice of incentives or sanctions in deciding whether to suspend uranium enrichment, a move which will delay a U.N. resolution to curb Iran’s nuclear program, a European official said.

Representatives of the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France as well as Germany made the decision at a meeting after more than three hours of talks by their foreign ministers Monday did not produce an agreement on the resolution.

The resolution would make mandatory the Council’s previous demand that Iran suspend uranium enrichment.

The Chinese and Russians have balked at British, French and U.S. efforts to put the resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter. Such a move would declare Iran a threat to international peace and security and set the stage for further measures if Tehran refuses to comply. Those measures could range from breaking diplomatic relations to economic sanctions and military action.

As a result of Tuesday’s decision, representatives from the three European countries that had been spearheading negotiations with Iran will spend the next few days preparing a package of incentives and sanctions, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because there has been no official announcement.

The package will be presented to European Union foreign ministers on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Brussels on Monday, and if approved will be presented to the Iranian government, the official said.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier foreshadowed the decision, telling reporters at a news conference late Monday that the Europeans planned to launch a new initiative alongside their effort to win approval of the resolution.

“In the coming days, we want to once again, as we did last summer, outline to Iran what kind of advantages we might offer to them if they were willing to comply with the demands of the international community, and what possibility there would be for further cooperation,” Steinmeier said.

The Europeans want the Iranian people to know that they are heading down “a path that would lead them into isolation if they were not to comply with the demands of the international community,” he said.

The British, French and Germans cut off more than two years of negotiations with Iran earlier this year after it said it would resume its enrichment activities. They had offered Iran a package of benefits last summer.

Steinmeier said the Europeans will have to talk about details of the new package of “advantages” that would be offered to Iran. “But I’m optimistic on the basis of the discussion we had tonight,” he said.

The European official said the package of benefits is likely to include issues related to energy security and civilian nuclear power.

Diplomats said the Russians and Chinese want to be sure that Iran knows the benefits of making the right choice.

The deeply divided Security Council has been wrestling with the draft resolution, sponsored by Britain and France and backed by the United States.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Monday the United States wanted a vote this week, with or without Russian and Chinese support.

But the new initiative will delay council action, the European official said.

Steinmeier said there are still five or six outstanding issues in the draft resolution.

“I think they probably need another 10 days, 14 days, to get that resolution” adopted, he said.

“We’ve come closer in our positions” but there is still no agreement, Steinmeier said. “China and Russia have not yet accepted the possibility of a general reference to a Chapter 7 resolution, but it’s not something they have excluded at this point.”

Steinmeier said Monday night’s discussion among ministers touched on the question of how to prevent a resolution from automatically triggering a reaction.

“A resolution, if it is to come about and if it is to be a Chapter 7 resolution, should not and must not be used as cover for the use of force,” he said.

Britain’s new foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, stressed that “it is not anybody’s intention to take the course of military action, and that, I think, is simple and straightforward and clear.”