WASHINGTON, Jan. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- Condoleezza Rice, US President George W. Bush's secretary of state-designee, said at her confirmation hearing on Tuesday that Iran has to be held accountable for not living up to its international obligations.

    "At some point Iran has to be held accountable for its unwillingness to live up to its international obligations," Rice said.

    Rice insisted that the United States is preparing to refer Iran's nuclear issue to the United Nations Security Council as she accused Iran of violating its international obligations.

    Rice said the United States has been making progress in unifying people's view of what the Iranians are doing and putting pressure on the Iranian government.

    "We do work with the EU-3 (Britain, France and Germany) to try and help them formulate a strategy that would really hold Iran accountable, not just take Iran's word for it. And we have made some progress in getting people who engage in bilateral assistance with Iran to be more cognizant of some of the proliferation risks," she said. Enditem