The current head of the UN Security Council says he has received no objections to Iran's president possibly attending a Security Council meeting in New York ahead of a vote on further sanctions against Iran.

South Africa's Ambassador to the UN, Dumisani Kumalo, who also heads the UN Security Council during March, confirmed on Friday that the Iranian ambassador to the UN, Javad Zarif, has sent him a letter to formally request that President Ahmadinejad be allowed to attend the next Security Council meeting in New York.

Kumalo said that the letter has been forwarded to all 15 members of the Security Council, and that “we have not yet received one single protest from any [of the members]," IRNA reports.

"So I guess the trip will take place,” Kumalo said, although he didn't know “when it will happen."

The UN Security Council will soon decide whether or not to intensify sanctions against Iran for refusing to stop its uranium enrichment program.

According to Kumalo, the exact date for the voting has not yet been set because ten non-permanent members of the Security Council received the latest draft resolution as late as Thursday.

Germany and the five permanent members - the U.S., China, Russia, England and France - have reportedly reached a consensus over the wording of the draft resolution.

Kumalo suggested however that the non-permanent members of the Security Council will not simply "rubber stamp" the resolution, saying "if we are to raise our hands in voting for a resolution that six other people write, then our presence might even be unnecessary."

AZ/MR/BG