World powers meet to discuss Iran's defiance of UN demands

Berlin: Senior officials from six world powers met in Berlin yesterday to discuss Iran's defiance of UN demands that it stop uranium enrichment work the West believes is at the centre of a secret atom-bomb plan.

The United Nations has already imposed limited sanctions after Tehran rejected resolutions ordering it to freeze the work.

Political directors from the five permanent UN Security Council members - the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China - plus Germany assessed the situation on the sidelines of a Group of Eight (G8) meeting in Berlin.

An official at the US embassy confirmed that the meeting was over and that Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns had left Berlin for Croatia. "It was a good, constructive meeting. We'll be having further discussions amongst the countries in the coming days and weeks to see where we go from here," a diplomat from one of the six participating countries said.

Diplomats from countries attending said the Americans had been eager to discuss possible language for a new sanctions resolution.