AFP - Germany sees "broad support" for a resolution on Iran at the upcoming meeting of the UN atomic watchdog here, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said here Wednesday.

"As you know, or perhaps have heard, we have prepared a resolution once again which will be tabled by Germany," Westerwelle told journalists after meeting with International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei.

"We and our partners are currently in consultations on the wording and we're hoping for broad support at the board of governors meeting which begins tomorrow (Thursday)," he said.

It was the first official confirmation that the six world powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- have agreed on a possible resolution condemning Iran for concealing a second uranium enrichment plant until it finally acknowledged its existence in September.

The world powers hope to put the resolution to the vote at the two-day meeting of the IAEA's 35-member board of governors, which begins Thursday.

Earlier, diplomats had told AFP that it was not yet clear from pre-meeting talks whether the text would actually win the support of the majority of board members.

If it did not, the so-called P5+1 may finally decide to issue it merely as a statement rather than put it to the vote, one diplomat said.

Westerwelle said that the international community's patience with Iran "won't last forever. And I expressly meant that against the backdrop of the discussion of further possible sanctions."

But he refused to be pinned down to any specific timetable.

"I don't want to take part in any speculation, because I'm aiming for a favourable result for everyone involved," Westerwelle said. "This once again opens an opportunity, that's what we're counting on and that's why I won't talk about any deadlines."

The last time the IAEA board passed a resolution against Iran was in February 2006.

But international frustration over Iran's refusal to come clean about its atomic ambitions has grown after the shock revelation in September that Tehran has been concealing a second uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom.

Even Russia and China, which have previously been reluctant to join western countries' call for tougher action against Iran, supported the resolution, diplomats said.

Iran said the site near Qom was planned as a back-up plant should the Natanz plant be bombed.

During their visit to the Qom site, IAEA inspectors verified that the plant was built to contain around 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges, but experts say that would not be sufficient to cover a civilian power programme,

The Natanz plant currently has around 8,000 centrifuges installed.