But diplomats said the exact timing was not particularly relevant for two reasons: They believe Iran already has given its answer; and they would almost certainly abandon their sanctions threat if Iran decides to suspend enrichment after the deadline.

On Wednesday, Ahmadinejad urged European members of the council against resorting to sanctions, saying punishment would not dissuade his country. Another top Iranian official urged Japan on Thursday to help peacefully resolve the standoff without sanctions.

Abbas Araghchi, deputy minister for legal and international affairs of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, met with Japan's foreign minister in a clear sign of Iran's continued efforts to lobby countries worldwide against support for sanctions.

"We are confident of the peaceful nature of our program. So if there is also goodwill and sincerity in the other side, we are sure that we can reach a good solution, a good conclusion through negotiations," Araghchi said.

Tehran insists it wants to enrich uranium as fuel solely for civilian nuclear power stations. However, the U.S. and other Western countries suspect it wants to use it in nuclear warheads.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed fresh suspicion that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons and said in remarks published Thursday that Arab governments are equally worried about Tehran's ambitions.

"At the moment, Iran has no use whatsoever for enriched uranium - unless it is planning to build the bomb," Steinmeier was quoted as saying in the newspaper Bild.

He also criticized the Iranian president for "trying to play the role of the leader of the Islamic world. .... Yet his Arab - also Islamic - neighbors share our concern about and rejection of a nuclear-armed Iran."

The United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany offered Iran earlier this summer a package of incentives in exchange for a commitment from Tehran to freeze enrichment so talks could begin.

But Tehran's response earlier this month suggested the country was not willing to suspend enrichment before talks, let alone consider a long-term moratorium on such activity.

The West has struggled for years over carrots and sticks to persuade Iran to roll back its nuclear program. But Tehran has time after time played the game by its rules and kept its eyes constantly on a long-term prize: forcing the world to accept its nuclear ambitions.

Iranian leaders have indicated they are willing to bear the economic blow of whatever sanctions are passed rather than give up enrichment.

That means Thursday will hardly be a climactic milestone in the long-standing tussle between Iran and the West. Iran can go on putting forward diplomatic initiatives to try to divide the big powers and keep room for maneuver, said one analyst, Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"This deadline will invariably be followed by another deadline and another," he said. "This is a game that will play out over five years, not a game that will play out tomorrow."

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