"The meeting of political directors of the six (countries) will take place on Tuesday," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on arrival in Moscow from talks in Egypt, Russian news agencies reported.

On leaving Egypt hours earlier, the same agencies reported Lavrov as saying that the meeting had been cancelled because some of the participants were "avoiding continuing the job."

He gave no indication of which countries had voiced reservations, or whether he had been in touch with any of Russia's partners during the flight.

He said it was still not certain where it would take place, saying it would likely be held "somewhere in Europe, probably in Paris."

A foreign ministry spokesman in Paris confirmed that the meeting would take place "early next week" but was unable to name the venue.

Amid the confused signals, there was little sign that the so-called P5-plus-one group -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- was any closer to bridging wide disagreements on the issue.

The six have been trying for weeks to agree on what sanctions to impose on Iran for its refusal to comply with an earlier UN resolution requiring it to freeze a uranium enrichment programme.

While all six states have agreed in principle to impose some sanctions until Iran agrees to suspend the enrichment and enter into negotiations on its nuclear programme, Russia and China have balked at the terms of a draft resolution drawn up by Britain, France and Germany.