U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the United States and its five negotiating partners in the P5+1 will meet in New York at the end of this week to discuss possible sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.

Clinton told reporters aboard her State Department plane while en route to Hawaii today that the Obama administration has concluded the best way to pressure Tehran to come clean on its nuclear ambitions is to impose sanctions aimed at the country's ruling elite.

Clinton said the final go-ahead on sanctions has not yet been made, but added that administration officials are moving in that direction after consulting with allies and other nations.

Iran has balked at coming to an agreement on curtailing a nuclear program that the United States and other countries fear is aimed at building atomic weapons.

U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in Washington today that some P5+1 talks also could take place when U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns travels to Moscow on January 13 and Madrid on January 14.

The P5+1 includes the permanent five members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China -- plus Germany.

compiled from agency reports