"I am sorry to tell President Ahmadinejad that the case is not closed," US Under Secretary of State for political affairs Nicholas Burns said here after the Iranian leader's speech to the UN General Assembly.

"The Iranian president is badly mistaken if he thinks that the international community is going to forget about the fact that his country is continuing, against the will of the UN Security Council, its nuclear research program in Natanz."

Ahmadinejad told the assembly on Tuesday the controversy over Iran's nuclear ambitions should be handled under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with which Tehran has agreed a timetable for answering questions on its nuclear program.

"From our point of view, Iran's nuclear issue is closed as a political issue," the Iranian leader said. "However certain powers who have been hostile to our nation for the past 30 years have made every effort, as they do today, to turn a simple legal issue into a very loud, controversial political issue."

But Burns shot back: "If Mr. Ahmadinejad thinks that somehow he is given a pass, he is mistaken about that.

"And in fact we will be meeting today -- the countries of the P5 -- to look at the detailed elements of a third Security Council resolution," he said, referring to the five permanent Security Council members, the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain.

Iran rejects Western charges that it is trying to build atomic weapons under the guise of its civilian nuclear program and insists it is entitled to pursue uranium enrichment as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, Tehran has refused to rein in its suspect nuclear program and in particular uranium enrichment, which can be used to supply the fuel for nuclear arms.

Burns was due to meet later Wednesday with his British, Chinese, French, Russian and German counterparts for discussions on drafting a new Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Tehran.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet in New York on Friday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Britain's David Milliband, France's Bernard Kouchner and Germany's Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

The aim is "to chart a way ahead, a diplomatic path forward for the rest of the autumn as we seek to continue this good cooperation internationally," Burns said.

"But I wouldn't anticipate concluding negotiations on a sanctions resolution."

He said the talks would not just focus on calls to impose a third wave of economic sanctions against Iran, recalling that the United States proposed in May 2006 to join the European dialogue with Iran on condition it suspended its enrichment activities.

"But with the failure of the Iranian government over the last year and four months to accept that offer, we have no other alternative but to continue the sanctions," he said.

The political directors of the P5 plus Germany met in Washington last week but failed to reach and agreement on the issue, with Moscow firmly opposed to a third wave of UN sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

And Burns acknowledged the talks were still ongoing and proving tough.

"We are not going to have a resolution this week. It is going to take some time. But I do believe we will get there," he said.

Iran and the IAEA agreed on a timetable last month for Tehran to provide answers to outstanding questions over its nuclear program, and officials from the UN's nuclear watchdog are in Iran for talks.

"The negotiations between the International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran began today and are going to continue for two or three days," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in a statement.

The IAEA has been investigating Iran's program for the past four years but has so far failed to conclude whether it is peaceful or not.

Enriching uranium is normally a key component of the cycle to make nuclear fuel but in highly-enriched form the uranium could be used to make the fissile core of a nuclear bomb.

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