If Iran fails to fulfill UN demands, economic and diplomatic sanctions may be imposed on the Islamic Republic.
All Security Council members except Qatar backed the resolution.
Iran's nuclear program has been a source of major controversy since the beginning of the year, as many countries suspect the Islamic Republic of pursuing a covert weapons program under the pretext of civilian research, despite its claims to the contrary.
The five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany have drafted a package of incentives to persuade Iran to halt work on enriching uranium, which could be used in both electricity generation and weapons production. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana presented the offer to Tehran during a visit to Iran June 6.
At their meeting on July 12 in Paris, the foreign ministers of the Iran-6 said they regretted that Iran had not given a positive answer to their proposal, and that they were prepared to refer Iran's nuclear file to the UN Security Council.
The leaders of the Group of Eight leading industrialized nations said at the recent G8 summit in St. Petersburg that they supported a decision by the Iran-6 to return discussions of the Iran nuclear issue to the UN Security Council.
