US says UN Iran resolution not enough by itself

WASHINGTON, Dec 24 (Reuters) The United States cheered the UN Security Council's adoption of sanctions aimed at pressuring Iran to halt uranium enrichment work, but called on Russia, China and others to take tougher measures on their own.

In a statement, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice urged Iran to ''suspend its sensitive nuclear activities and accept the negotiations path that the United States and its Security Council partners offered six months ago.'' All nations should ''take immediate action'' to comply with the sanctions resolution, Rice said.

Earlier in the day, Undersecretary Nicholas Burns said the Bush administration will try to persuade Russia, China, Japan and the European Union to take more vigorous action, including cutting off lending to Iran.

''We don't think this resolution is enough in itself. And we're certainly not going to put all our eggs in a UN basket,'' said Burns in a teleconference with reporters.

''We'd like to see countries stop doing business as usual with Iran.'' Burns said the idea was to drive up Iran's costs so long as it continues research on uranium enrichment, which can produce fuel for nuclear power plants as well as bombs, and research and development that might lead to the production or delivery of atomic weapons.

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