Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- The European Union submitted a resolution that would delay a United Nations Security Council referral over Iran's uranium enrichment intentions, after the Iranian government said the threat could lead to confrontation.

The U.S.-backed resolution proposed by the EU says Iran is in ``non-compliance'' and that Iran's nuclear program has ``given rise to questions that are within the competence of the Security Council,'' according to a three-page copy distributed at the International Atomic Energy Agency meeting in Vienna late today.

Diplomats have been trying to decide how to deal with Iran's decision to remove IAEA seals from a uranium-conversion facility on Aug. 9. Iran, with the world's second-biggest oil reserves, says it wants enriched uranium to generate electricity. The U.S. says the Iranian leadership is trying to produce material to build an atomic bomb.

The IAEA will continue leading the investigation into Iran's nuclear program, and its board of governors will address ``the timing and content'' of a Security Council referral at a future meeting, the resolution says. Iran could be sent to the Security Council as early as Nov. 24, when the board of governors next meets.

Earlier in the day, an Iranian government official warned against a move to send the matter to the UN's highest body in New York.

``This is very dangerous to go the way of confrontation,'' said Javad Vaidi, spokesman for Iran's National Security Council. ``We want a peaceful resolution to this issue.''

The IAEA's 35-member board plans to vote on the EU resolution tomorrow, and support from 18 governments is needed for approval. This would be the eighth IAEA resolution criticizing Iran in the past two years.

Russian Opposition

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that he was opposed to threatening Iran with a Security Council referral because talks were advancing, the Interfax news agency reported. Russia and China, both veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, want Iran's nuclear program dealt with through the IAEA, they said in statements delivered to the board yesterday.

The Non-Aligned Movement of 14 countries also ``would prefer a more constructive approach'' than the EU draft resolutions, Malaysian delegate Rajmah Hussain said earlier. ``We're still trying to negotiate a way out,'' she said.

The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned that UN sanctions would push the price of oil to $100 a barrel, Agence France-Presse reported from Tehran, citing General Yahya Rahim Safavi.

Reports from Tehran show that Iran is linking support for its nuclear program to energy deals. Inpex Corp., Japan's biggest oil explorer, may lose a $2.5 billion project to develop Iran's Azadegan field if it supports the referral of the Iran dispute to the Security Council, the Tehran Times reported. The National Iranian Oil Co. subsidiary Petropars will participate in a contract worth more than $2 billion to develop an oil field in Venezuela, the newspaper said. Venezuela is against referral.

Energy Deals

Iran has been signing energy agreements with IAEA board members. Iran is set to supply China with 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas annually beginning in 2008, Iran's Oil Ministry said July 6. It's also planning a $7.4 billion natural- gas pipeline to India.

``Those countries that have economic transactions with Iran, especially in the field of oil, have not defended Iran's right so far,'' AFP cited Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani as saying earlier this week. ``Based on how much they defend Iran's national right will facilitate their participation.''

A meeting of the agency's governing board is in its fifth day at IAEA headquarters in the Austrian capital.

The Non-Aligned Movement countries opposing sending Iran to the Security Council are: Algeria, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Venezuela, Vietnam and Yemen.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jonathan Tirone in Vienna at jtirone@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 23, 2005 16:10 EDT