Rice says to use Security Council to pressure Iran

BERLIN, Feb 22 (Reuters)US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today world powers planned to use all available channels and the UN Security Council to get Iran to halt its sensitive nuclear work and start negotiations.

''We reconfirmed that we will use our available channels and the Security Council to try and achieve that goal,'' Rice said after a breakfast meeting in Berlin with the foreign ministers of Germany, Russia and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

A UN nuclear watchdog report due later in the day is likely to confirm Iran has escalated rather than halted its nuclear fuel programme, exposing Tehran to wider sanctions over fears it is secretly seeking atom bombs.

REUTERS BDP KP1523