With talk of sanctions, the world powers, five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany, ended a meeting on Saturday in New York with no clear agreement over the Iranian nuclear issue.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov (C) is interviewed after the six powers' discussion on how to deal with Iran's nuclear issue at the European Union Mission in mid-town Manhattan, central New York City, the United States, January 16, 2010. [Xinhua photo]

After a two-and-a-half-hour meeting, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the meeting was "inconclusive in a sense that we didn't make any decisions right away" but added that most of the discussions focused on the "second track", meaning sanctions.

During a working luncheon, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) discussed Iran's failure to respond clearly to demands made by the international community over its controversial nuclear program.

"We will continue to seek a negotiated solution but consideration of appropriate further measures has also begun," said Robert Cooper, a senior European Union official who chaired the meeting.

With time running out, the West has been pushing for sanctions that would target the Iranian government and the Revolutionary Guard Corps, while China and Russia have called for continued diplomacy.

The West accuses Iran of covertly building nuclear weapons but Tehran maintains that its nuclear program is intended to generate electricity for its population.

Last October in Geneva, Iran agreed to a UN-brokered deal that would have allayed suspicions about the weaponization of its nuclear program.

But Iran missed the Dec. 31 deadline -- set by the U.S. -- to open its secret uranium enrichment plant near Qom to international inspection and send most of its enriched uranium abroad to be turned into fuel.

Since then, Iran has made various statements on television but has failed to engage directly with the world powers and offer concrete proposals of its own, said a senior official with knowledge of the P5 +1 talks.

The question, the official asked, is what do the Iranians want?

The world powers have approached the situation delicately with a dual-track approach that involves engagement and pressure. But by refusing to discuss its nuclear program and move forward, Iran seems to be testing the international community's resolve.

"Iran has failed to follow up on the key understandings of the Geneva meeting by, in particular, refusing further meetings to discuss the nuclear issue," according to a statement read by Cooper after Saturday's meeting.

Speaking in his capacity as host, Cooper said the P5 -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States -- plus Germany were concerned over Iran's secret enrichment facility in Qom, the lack of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and Iran's failure to take up the IAEA on its proposal to ship most of Tehran's low enriched uranium abroad.

"As a result, we concluded that Iran's response was inadequate, " said Cooper.