A top Iranian official handed over material on his country's nuclear program in an effort to stave off U.N. sanctions, but it may be a case of too little too late.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad greets the crowd as he begins his speech in city of Zanjan 330 Km (205 miles) west of Tehran, Iran April 27, 2006. [Reuters]

Diplomats said they expect U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei to find that Iran failed to meet Friday's deadline for complying with council requests to suspend uranium enrichment, setting the stage for a confrontation at the Security Council.

If Iran does not comply, the council is likely to consider punitive measures against the nation. While Russia and China have been reluctant to endorse sanctions, the council's three other veto-wielding members say a strong response is in order.

The United States, France and Britain say if Tehran does not meet the deadline, they will make the enrichment demand and other conditions compulsory and they want punitive measures to stay on the table.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said it was time for the Security Council to act if the world body wished to remain credible.

"The Security Council is the primary and most important institution for the maintenance of peace and stability and security and it cannot have its word and its will simply ignored by a member state," Rice told reporters at a NATO foreign ministers' meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Iran's deputy nuclear chief, Mohammad Saeedi, met Thursday with Olli Heinonen, the IAEA's deputy director general in charge of Iran's nuclear file.

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