U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday that the United States might seek actions against Iran outside the United Nations Security Council.

"I absolutely believe that we have a lot of diplomatic arrows in our quiver at the Security Council and also like-minded states that would be able and willing to look at additional measures if the Security Council does not move quickly enough," Rice said in an interview with the CBS.

The United States has hoped that the United Nations Security Council could impose sanctions on Iran for its noncompliance on stopping the uranium enrichment work. However, Russia has been reluctant to do so.

As a result, the United States has indicated that it will form a coalition of "like-minded" countries, notably the European Union, to impose sanctions on Iran by themselves.

Iran has been defiant in the face of sanctions or possible U.S. military strikes, claiming that it will retaliate if the United States launches military actions against it.

Source: Xinhua