AFP, Tehran, Aug 7, 2008 (excerpts) – The UN atomic watchdog’s number two was in Tehran on Thursday for a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear drive as Western governments said the time had come for the Security Council to impose fresh sanctions.

The two-day visit comes a day after six world powers discussed Iran’s response to their latest offer to resolve the nuclear standoff, which has helped push world oil prices to record levels.

A diplomat close to the International Atomic Energy Agency said Heinonen’s visit was likely to concentrate on clarifying outstanding questions the watchdog has about Iran’s nuclear programme rather than the incentives offer.

That visit focused on studies that the IAEA suspects Iran carried out in the past into the engineering involved in making a nuclear warhead.

In his last report on Iran in May, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei accused Tehran of withholding key information on the so-called weaponisation studies.

On Wednesday, Britain and the United States said the six powers now had “no choice” but to seek new UN sanctions after Iran failed to give a “clear positive response” to their latest offer of trade and technology incentives in return for an enrichment freeze.

The two governments said there was now agreement among the six powers, which also include China, France, Germany and Russia, that a new sanctions resolution should be discussed at the Security Council.