Rice: Iran faces sanctions over nuke work

DUBLIN, Ireland, July 21 (UPI) -- Iran must comply with international demands regarding its nuclear program or face sanctions, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.

Speaking Monday in Ireland, Rice warned of further sanctions by the United States, Europe and the U.N. Security Council on Iran's energy and banking concerns if Tehran didn't agree to suspend enriched uranium production, the Los Angeles Times reported.

U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns attended a weekend meeting in Geneva, during which Iran responded to a U.N. proposal to suspend Iran's nuclear program. Iran didn't give a yes-or-no response, prompting Western leaders to give the country two weeks to respond positively face economic sanctions as early as late August, the Times reported.

"We are in the strongest possible position to demonstrate that if Iran does not act then it is time to go back to that (sanctions) track," Rice said while traveling to meet with Burns and leaders of pro-U.S. Arab officials to discuss Iran.

Iranian chief negotiator Saeed Jalili downplayed the deadline.

"What happened in Geneva was some discussions about the two sides' approaches to the nuclear talks and their timing," the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported him as saying.