Speaking ahead of high-level crisis talks due to be held in Brussels and Geneva this week, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi also warned it would take “unilateral decisions” if it faced diplomatic punishment.

“It is not legally possible to refer our case to the UN Security Council. May counties believe there is no legal basis for it. So if one country pressures others to do it, they will be the losers, and the Islamic republic of Iran would not lose,” he told reporters.

“We have taken the necessary measures and we are not afraid of being referred to the UN Security Council,” he added.

Asefi said that if the Europeans went ahead with pushing the dossier to New York, “it means that an issue that could have been solved with negotiations has become a crisis over which the Europeans have no control.”

“It is then that the Islamic Republic of Iran will feel no obligation or no commitment, and it will act upon unilateral decisions,” he warned , without elaborating.

Iran agreed in November with Britain, France and Germany to suspend its uranium conversion and enrichment activities, which Washington believes conceals its nuclear armament intentions.

However the Islamic republic is seeking to resume uranium conversion, a move that would violate its deal with the EU-3 and leave it facing the threat of UN Security Council action.

Emergency talks between Iranian nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani and the three European foreign ministers are due to take place on Wednesday, the day after an “experts” level meeting in Brussels.