Security helicopters roamed the skies above Berlin's government quarter on Thursday and motorcades clogged the streets below. The five foreign ministers of the United Nations Security Council's veto-wielding members converged on the city to attend a summit meeting organized by German Chancellor Angela Merkel aimed at forging a common front to force Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment activities.

"Iran must decide between a self-imposed isolation through its continuation of enrichment ... or return to the negotiating table," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at a press conference after the meeting. "We all hope Iran will take the opportunity to opt for a restart of negotiations. And we reiterate the call that Iran stop all enrichment activities and reopen the path to negotiations."

Steinmeier was joined by United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and senior diplomats from France, Britain, China and Russia. Rice warned Tehran that the "international community is united" in the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program and hinted that Security Council action could intensify if Iran fails to adhere to an order to cease its uranium enrichment within 30 days.

The clear undertone of the meeting in Berlin was that the possibility of sanctions should not become the focal point of diplomatic efforts to solve the nuclear conflict with Iran. Rice said no proposals for sanctions had been introduced at the meeting -- a statement backed by her Russian colleague, Sergei Lavrov.

"Russia on principle doesn't think sanctions can achieve a settlement, especially in the Middle East where there's so much going on," he said, adding that the "sole solution" to the Iran nuclear standoff "will be based on the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency."

Speaking after the meeting, Iran's representative to the global nuclear energy watchdog, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, rejected the foreign ministers' demands, telling the Associated Press: "It is impossible to go back to back to suspension. This enrichment matter is not reversible."

Security Council order

Thursday's meeting in Berlin came a day after the UN Security Council issued a statement ordering Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment activities within the next month. In a unanimous decision on Wednesday, the 15 members of the UN Security Council issued a non-binding "presidential statement" ordering that Iran put a stop to all efforts aimed at creating enriched uranium, which could later be used in the production of nuclear weapons. The statement also asks the world's nuclear energy watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, to submit a report in 30 days assessing whether Iran has fulfilled the demand. However, the statement includes concessions to veto-wielding Russia and China, which want to send a warning signal to Tehran but are reluctant to impose any sanctions.

"The presidential statement is an international voice to the Iranians that they need to suspend their (uranium enrichment) activities, return to negotiations and that they continue to be isolated," said Rice.

Iran continues to insist that it is only interested in nuclear power plants for the production of electricity. The West, though, remains concerned that nuclear weapons are the ultimate goal. Radical comments by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," have not helped.

Seeking a unified front

So far, Tehran has shown no signs of budging. "Iran is a country that is allergic to pressure and threats and intimidation," Iran's ambassador to the UN, Javad Zarif, said in New York. "Iran is committed to nonproliferation and Iran does not want to produce nuclear weapons." Nevertheless, he said, "Iran insists on its right to have access to nuclear technology for explicitly peaceful purposes," adding that Tehran would not abandon its claim to what he described as its "legitimate right."

Zarif further accused the UN Security Council of applying a double standard. He alleged that the council has never ordered an inspection of Israel's nuclear arsenal. It may not exist officially, but the fact that Tel Aviv has a stockpile of nuclear weapons is one of the world's worst-kept secrets. Iran, he said, "has not waged war against any country in 250 years, Iran is a member of all international regimes. Iran has not threatened any country, Iran does not possess nuclear weapons, nor does it intend to possess them. None of these statements can be made about Israel."

However, in statements made Wednesday, Rice sought to raise attention to Tehran's calls for Israel to be "wiped off the map" as well as its support for Syria and the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hizbollah. "I think it's more of an issue of the context in which we understand Iran's nuclear ambitions," Rice said. "It is a troublesome regime for peace and stability in the Middle East."