The draft resolution that gives Iran until August 31 to halt its uranium enrichment work is expected to be easily passed by the council following weeks of negotiations among the major powers.

If Iran, which is maintaining a hard line going into the vote, refuses to halt its nuclear work, the Security Council can start discussing economic and political sanctions.

The United States and its allies believe Iran is seeking to build a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its programme is for peaceful purposes.

The US ambassador to the UN John Bolton has said that if Iran does not comply by the end of August then his country will "forcefully" press for sanctions.

Russia and China, which strongly opposed any talk of sanctions in the current resolution, have not yet indicated how they see the next phase of the dispute with Tehran.

"I think the Iranians are cornered," US Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said Sunday.

"What they specifically thought was that they could divide China and Russia, on the one hand, from the United States and Europe on the other, and that's not happened," he said.

Burns said he believed that Iran had been "surprised" by Russia and China agreeing to the resolution. "This is going to be a significant blow to them," he said on Fox News television.

Asked what type of sanctions Iran could face, Burns said: "Obviously, we're going to have to focus on the nuclear industry and try to cut off dual-use exports, exports of technologies that can help them further their enrichment and reprocessing activities.

"We certainly would like to inhibit the ability of Iranians to travel, Iranian government officials, or for people to profit from our scientific and technological expertise," he added.

Iran threatened Sunday to reject an offer of international economic and political incentives to stop its uranium enrichment if the Security Council passes the resolution.

Iranian Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Tehran could "revise" its policies -- implicitly warning that future access for UN inspectors could end -- and that the proposed UN resolution would "worsen the crisis in the region".

"If tomorrow they pass a resolution against Iran, the package will not be on the agenda any more," he said of the international incentives.

Iranian leaders have already warned they could halt cooperation with inspectors from the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and even quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- the five permanent members of the Security Council -- and Germany drew up the draft resolution during weeks of painstaking talks.

Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, has stressed the lack of a threat of sanctions in the resolution which he called "an invitation to dialogue" with Iran.

But he also acknowledged that if Iran did not respond, the Security Council would then consider "measures of pressure, like sanctions" under Article 41 of Chapter Seven of the UN Charter. Article 41 would not allow the use of force.

The draft resolution calls on Iran to follow IAEA directives "without further delay".

If passed, it would call on the IAEA director Mohammed ElBaradei to give a report on whether Iran has complied by August 31.

While warning of further measures, the resolution "underlines that further decisions will be required should such additional measures be necessary," meaning that a new UN Security Council resolution would have to be passed to get sanctions.

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