US keeps up pressure on Iran

Washington: Washington kept up pressure for new sanctions on Iran after talks in London in the wake of Tehran's refusal to bow to UN demands to halt its nuclear fuel processing.

"There will be consequences," if Iran does not remain in negotiations over its nuclear programme, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday.

McCormack said senior US diplomat Nick Burns said the six-powers meeting on Iran in London yesterday was conducted "in a very good, positive, constructive atmosphere."

McCormack noted that the six powers in the talks, the United States, Britain, Russia, China, France and Germany, had agreed to talk again Thursday by telephone to try to thrash out which elements to include in a new tougher UN Security Council resolution on Iran.

"Coming out of this meeting, they have agreed on the fact that they will go forward with a UN sanctions resolution," he said.

"We hope at that point that they can actually come to agreement on the elements of the resolution. And then you also -- then you would proceed from that point in finishing up negotiations on the actual text of the resolution," he said.

On Thursday the International Atomic Energy Agency issued a report saying that Iran had not halted, and in fact had expanded, its uranium enrichment programme, defying a UN Security Council demand to stop by last week.

The Unites States and some other western powers believe Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons capability.

Iran, however, has denied seeking nuclear weapons, and asserts it has a right to a peaceful nuclear programme.