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Clinton: â€œU.S. will not back down on Iran nuclear issueâ€

21 January 2010 20:31 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ziya Agazade â€“ APA. Major powers are united in working towards pressuring Iran over its nuclear program, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday, despite many signals that China is reluctant to impose more sanctions, APA reports quoting â€œReutersâ€.

Senior diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States met in New York on Saturday to discuss the possibility of placing more international sanctions on Iran.

The West suspects that Iran’s nuclear program is a cover for developing atomic weapons. Iran has said the program is designed to generate electricity so that it can export more of its valuable oil and gas.

"We are unified in our resolve to work towards pressure on Iran in the face of their continuing rejection of the overtures by the international community," Clinton said at a news conference, calling Saturday’s meeting a "productive step."

Earlier this month China argued in public that now was not the right time to place further sanctions on Iran and it sent only a low level official to attend Saturday’s meeting while the other powers sent senior foreign ministry officials.