UNITED NATIONA — The five permanent members of the UN Security Council agreed on a statement Wednesday demanding that Iran suspend uranium enrichment, setting the stage for the first action by the powerful body over fears that Tehran wants a nuclear weapon.

The 15 members of the council planned to meet later Wednesday to approve the statement, the text of which was not immediately disclosed. Uranium enrichment is a process that can lead to a nuclear weapon.

The council has struggled for three weeks to come up with a written rebuke that would urge Iran to comply with several demands from the board of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to clear up suspicions about its intentions. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

"The council is expressing its clear concern and is saying to Iran that it should comply with the wishes of the governing board," Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry told reporters.

The West believes council action will help isolate Iran and put new pressure on it to clear up suspicions about its intentions. They have proposed an incremental approach, refusing to rule out sanctions.

U.S. officials have said the threat of military action must also remain on the table.

Russia and China, both allies of Iran, oppose sanctions. They want any council statement to make explicit that the IAEA, not the Security Council, must take the lead in confronting Iran.

The council has struggled for three weeks to come up with a written rebuke that would urge Iran to comply with demands from the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that it suspend uranium enrichment.

But even though the statement is not legally enforceable, the talks have been extremely sensitive because of the statement's larger significance.

Britain, France and the United States want the council statement out of the way before their foreign ministers, as well as Germany's, meet in Berlin on Thursday to discuss strategy toward Iran.

Wednesday's meeting of the five veto-wielding members of the council -- the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia -- was the fourth in less than 24 hours.