"We are coming to the point where everybody is convinced that sanctions have to be taken or otherwise we will look ridiculous," Belgium's top diplomat told a news conference in Brussels.
"It would be a failure for the international community to not come up with sanctions that are agreed by everybody," he added, saying that he for one was convinced that Iran had "ambitions to become a nuclear power".
He was speaking ahead of a meeting with EU counterparts on Tuesday in Luxembourg, where they are to acknowledge that talks with Tehran about its nuclear ambitions have failed, according to a draft document seen by AFP.
The draft says that the Union now believes that "Iran's continuation of enrichment-related activities has left the EU no choice" but to return to the United Nations for sanctions.
Major world powers have been debating sanctions to slap on Iran for ignoring an August 31 UN deadline to suspend uranium enrichment, which Washington and others fear could be subverted to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006