U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reiterated on Thursday that Iran will face more sanctions if it fails to give an adequate response to the latest incentives package by the six major powers.

In an exclusive interview with Politico and Yahoo! News, Rice said Iran's latest response to a demand for the enrichment freeze in exchange for trade and technology incentives "is not a really serious answer."

"Iran has a way out if they ever wish, but we will seriously pursue sanctions if they don't," the top diplomat said.

On July 19, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalali held nuclear talks in Geneva over Tehran's disputed nuclear program. U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns attended the meeting.

Since that meeting, Iran has failed twice to give a clear answer to the package of incentives proposed by six major countries -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, requiring the country to suspend its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for political and economic benefits.

The United States and its Western allies criticized Iran for its evasive answer to the offers by the six major countries, and warned that if no positive response is delivered by Tehran, there will be no choice but to ask the United Nations to proceed with further sanctions.

The United States and its allies have accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons, but Iran insists that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2008)