PARIS, Aug 5 (AFP) - The world will face a "major international crisis" if Iran rejects European proposals aimed at ensuring it cannot develop a nuclear arsenal, France said Friday, calling on the international community to be firm.

"We must be very firm" in demanding that Iran responds favourably to the proposals it received earlier Friday from European Union negotiators France, Britain and Germany, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said.

Only acceptance by Tehran of the security and nuclear cooperation guarantees made in the offer could avert the issue being brought to the International Atomic Energy Agency and from there to the UN Security Council, he said.

An extraordinary meeting of the IAEA's board of governors is scheduled for next Tuesday to discuss Iran's threats to resume uranium ore conversion in violation of an agreement to suspend all nuclear activities in exchange for the offers made Friday.

The meeting "is to ask the whole of the international community to tell Iran one last time that it has to choose the path of reason," Douste-Blazy said.

"If Iran ends up not accepting (the proposals) then the matter will have to go to the Security Council and that could effectively be the start of a major international crisis," he said.

The French foreign ministry said the EU offer recognised Iran's "inalienable" right to civilian nuclear energy as long as it does not violate the terms of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT).

Spokeswoman Cecile Pozzo di Borgo said the propositions were made "so as to take into account the points raised by the Iranians during the negotiations" and "constitute a global offer."

She said they covered the areas of politics and security, the Iranian civilian nuclear programme, and economic and technological cooperation.

"A high-level committee will be tasked" with following the issues of cooperation in non-proliferation, regional security, terrorism and combating drug-trafficking, she said.

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