France will insist on a tougher EU stance against Iran, unless the country gives up its plans to continue enriching uranium, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Monday.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany, will meet to discuss tougher sanctions on Iran later this week, but with Russia and China opposing such measures, the European countries could make their own move.

Kouchner claimed he had the support on this issue from the UK and Germany, although others, like Austria, reacted negatively to what they called "martial rhetoric."

Although Kouchner insisted that diplomacy was the way to push forward, he also warned against the "real danger for the whole world", should Iran acquire nuclear weapons.

"We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war," Kouchner was quoted as saying, showing the latest sign of convergence between the US and French foreign policies since the election of Nicolas Sarkozy to the French presidency.

Iran's state news agency IRNA, predictably, slammed Kouchner's words, accusing France of toeing the line set up in Washington, which has long been suspicious of Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

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