UNITED NATIONS, March 20 (Xinhua) -- Senior officials from five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany failed to reach consensus Monday on the long-term strategy on Iran nuclear issue.

    After almost four and a half hours of talks which were held at British mission, the six countries did not achieve any agreement on the issue, diplomats who participated in the consultation told Xinhua.

    Officials who attended the meeting include U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak, Chinese Foreign Ministry Director of Arms Control Zhang Yan, and Foreign Ministry Political Director John Sawers of Britain, Stanislas de la Boulaye of France and Michael Schaefer of Germany.

    The atmosphere of the meeting was constructive, and the six parties expressed their own standpoints on the issue, said the diplomat who asked to remain anonymous.

    It was said that Russia declared at the meeting that all parties concerned should stick to the principle achieved during the talks in London in January when dealing with the Iran nuclear issue.

    The diplomat also added that there is so far no any new proposal mentioned at the meeting.

    According to information arriving here from Vienna, Britain planed to put forward new proposal on the Iran issue at the meeting.

    Two diplomats told The Associated Press in Vienna, Austria, that Britain plans to call for new talks with Iran about its suspect nuclear program at the meeting, AP reported Monday.

    After the meeting, Burns told reporters that "we had a good meeting today."

    He observed that all parties agreed that "we should stay united and stay together to send a strong message to the Iranians, and to convince them to roll back their nuclear program, suspend all nuclear activities and return to formal negotiations."

    Burns also noted that they made some progress in looking at the text of the presidential statement before the UN Security Council. However, he refused to clarify what kind of progress it is.

    Meanwhile, Russia ambassador Andrey Denisov said, "the work is still going on."

    The Security Council will continue to hold consultation Tuesday afternoon on the draft statement proposed by France and Britain. Since the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sent its assessment report on Iran's disputed nuclear program to the Council on March 8, the five permanent members, which hold the veto power, have held almost two weeks of continuous talks, and remain divided on the language of the draft statement.

    In the draft statement, Britain and France suggested a 14-day deadline for Iran to comply with IAEA's demands to resume suspension of its uranium enrichment activities. However, Russia only wants a statement stressing the central role the IAEA has on the Iran issue. Enditem