Rice asks China, Russia, India to support UN action against Iran

"Iran needs to get a message from the international community that is a unified message," Rice said at a news conference Friday. The message, she said, is that it is not acceptable for Iran to enter into negotiations with the Europeans on living up to its international obligations, and then to back out.

Iran refused to accept a US-backed European Union offer of economic concessions to halt suspicious nuclear activities, and Rice said a drive to round up support for UN Security Council consideration of Iran's behaviour was under way.

"We will be working with our colleagues on this," she said. Approval is not assured in the Security Council even though French President Jacques Chirac has grown impatient with Iran. For one thing, China historically has opposed sanctions, Russia's stance is uncertain, and either one can kill a resolution with a veto. As she discussed her meetings coming up next week in New York during a session of the UN General Assembly, Rice said Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was granted a visa to attend even though he was ineligible because of terrorist ties. "I don't know if I will have a chance to bump into him," Rice said with a smile. "But you know, I am a pleasant person. I suppose I would say, 'Hello'."

Referring to continuing US suspicions that Ahmadinejad played a role in Iranian radicals' takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979, Rice gave no indication she was willing to have serious talks with the Iranian leader.