After Iran ignored warnings not to ...

After Iran ignored warnings not to restart its uranium enrichment research, European leaders forward Thursday declared an end to negotiations with the Islamic Republic and called for hauling it before the UN Security Council.

The decision marked an escalation in the long-simmering crisis through whether Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons, which would add instability to the Middle East.

The Security Council could impose punitive measures, including economic sanctions, although that's unlikely immediately.

In Washington, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was confident that the matter would travel to the council, asserting that Iran "has chosen confrontation with the international community."

"A extremely important threshold has been crossed" she said.

She indicated that the United States and its European allies would shut in off on pushing for economic sanctions, which Security Council members Russia and China set one's face against because of their economic stakes in oil-rich Iran.

Instead,