The United States will seek security, financial, business and travel sanctions on Iran even in case the UN Security Council fails to do so, said John Bolton, US ambassador to the United Nations, yesterday.

"I think an inability on the part of the Security Council to deal effectively with the Iranian nuclear weapons program would be a signal that as we are committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, that we have to look at other alternatives," Bolton said at a forum of the State Department Correspondents Association.

Security sanctions could include combating illicit trafficking of weapons of mass destruction and related materials under the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, Bolton said, adding that Washington could also move to restrict remaining business links with businesses in Iran.

The United States has insisted on referring Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. However, Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, has been reluctant to do so.

The United States has voiced impatience over the slow process in the Security Council as it took three weeks for the world body to pass a non-binding statement on Iran.

The statement, passed on March 29, gave Iran 30 days to abandon the uranium enrichment program, but it did not mention possible sanctions on Iran.