Clinton fails in Iran sanctions bid

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has failed in her mission to win Russia's support for fresh sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, reports suggest.

The Obama administration is hoping to gain international agreement on a tougher stance against Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Mrs Clinton met with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday as well as the country's president Dmitry Medvedev to discuss measures to restrict Iran's nuclear programme.

The so-called P5-plus-1 group, including Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the US, are currently attempting to improve dialogue with Tehran.

Mr Obama, Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy launched a scathing attack on Iran at the recent G20 summit at Pittsburgh following the discovery of a second uranium enrichment plant.

Russia though has yet to officially back the call for stricter sanctions and Mr Lavrov warned yesterday they could be 'counter-productive'.

'All forces should be aimed at supporting talks. Threats of sanctions and threats of pressure in the current situation are, in our opinion, counter-productive,' he said following a meeting with Mrs Clinton.