The United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France have decided to postpone referring the matter of Iran’s nuclear activity to the United Nations Security Council.
The three European nations are conducting negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.
A referral to the Security Council could mean sanctions.
The board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is due to meet on Thursday to discuss further steps on Iran.
The decision to postpone the referral came a day after the Iranian parliament approved a bill which stipulates that if the U.N. threat is carried out, Tehran will end access for nuclear inspectors to conduct spot checks, and it will resume uranium enrichment.
The bill awaits the approval of the Guardian Council in order to become a law.
Iran’s nuclear program has been scrutinized for more than two years over suspicions that the program is covertly being used to manufacture nuclear weapons.
Iran insists the program is for peaceful purposes and that it has a right to nuclear technology.
The delay is said to be in order to allow the Iranians time to mull over a compromise that would move the uranium enrichment portion of its nuclear development program to Russia.
An analyst for The Media Line suggests that the U.N. threat might be an empty one since action would require passing a resolution that both Russia and China are virtually certain of vetoing.