US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has greeted as "unmistakeably clear" the UN Security Council's statement giving Iran 30 days to abandon its uranium enrichment activities.
"The adoption today by the UN Security Council of a Presidential Statement on Iran is an important diplomatic step," Rice said in a statement on Wednesday.
"It demonstrates that the international community is united in its concern over Iran's nuclear programme," Rice said shortly before she was to depart for meetings in Europe on the Iran nuclear issue.
"Iran is more isolated now than ever. The Security Councils' Presidential Statement sends an unmistakable message to Iran that its efforts to conceal its nuclear programme and evade its international obligations are unacceptable."
Rice added that the international community expects Iran to comply with the International Atomic Energy Agency's call to suspend its uranium enrichment-related activities and to return to negotiations.
Earlier, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a non-binding statement giving Iran 30 days to halt uranium enrichment activities.
The full 15-member council backed a watered-down text worked out among the five veto-wielding permanent members that requested a report in 30 days from the IAEA director on Iranian compliance with the steps required by the IAEA board.