WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned on Sunday that the United States might take steps on its own, outside the UN Security Council, to pressure Iran to stop its nuclear programme.

Rice, who appeared on several Sunday television talk shows, said Washington still had a number of diplomatic steps it could take through the UN Security Council against Iran. However, if the council did not act quickly enough, Washington and its allies would not wait.

"I absolutely believe that we have a lot of diplomatic arrows in our quiver at the Security Council and also like-minded states that would be able and willing to look at additional measures if the Security Council does not move quickly enough," Rice said on the CBS show "Face the Nation."

Rice accused Iran of "playing games" with the international community, saying Teheran had had plenty of time to comply with earlier demands to halt its programme.

The United States contends that Iran is working to develop nuclear weapons, but Teheran says its programme is purely to meet civil energy needs.

The United States, the United Kingdom and France want to introduce a new Security Council resolution that would require Teheran to abandon uranium enrichment. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported last week that Teheran had defied an earlier Security Council deadline to halt its enrichment programme.

The new resolution would invoke Chapter VII of the UN Charter, making compliance mandatory and punishable by sanctions if violated. However, the United States still has to overcome opposition from Russia and China to get such a resolution through the council.

Iran reiterated its defiant stance on Sunday, vowing to ignore any such resolution and to strike back if attacked.

Despite its defiance, Rice said Iran was trying to avoid international isolation.

Agencies

(China Daily 05/02/2006 page1)