Clinton to push for new Iran sanctions in London

The US secretary of state will push for fresh international sanctions against Iran over its nuclear work during her stay in London this week.

A senior US official said on condition of anonymity on Wednesday that Hillary Clinton would seek support for new UN Security Council sanctions against Iran.

Clinton is in London to attend a conference on Afghanistan, which is co-hosted by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

According to the official, during her stay in London, the former first lady will hold private meetings with the foreign ministers of Russia, China, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to garner support for new sanctions against Iran.

This comes after the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) met in New York earlier this month to discuss a new round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

During the P5+1 meeting, representatives of the US, Britain and France called for fresh sanctions against Iran. Russia and China, however, called for patience and restraint in dealing with Iran.

Iran is already under three rounds of UNSC sanctions over its nuclear work, which it says is peaceful in nature and in line with the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, to which it is a signatory.