The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany on Saturday concluded their preliminary talks on possible sanctions on Iran without any clear agreement.

Compared to its previous versions, the meeting at the European Union (EU)'s mission to the United Nations in New York was held on a low key.

No joint communique was issued afterwards and the six nations only expressed their views to the press through an informal briefing by senior EU official Robert Cooper who chaired the meeting.

They reaffirmed a commitment to the dual-track approach, which "implies that we will continue to seek a negotiated solution, but consideration of appropriate further measures has also begun."

The so-called "appropriate further measures" were de facto UN euphemism meaning further sanctions.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently disclosed her country's intention to impose sanctions on the Iranian leadership, saying that the six nations will discuss the details.

She said that further punitive measures should target the Iranian government, in particular the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps which is in charge of Iran's nuclear program.

Other than symbolically putting discussions on further sanctions on Iran on the agenda, the gathering did not generate any substantive outcomes after a speedy two-hour-and-a-half session.

Analysts said the Iranian nuclear issue is very complicated because it is intrinsically related to other thorny matters like the imperfect international non-proliferation system, the confidence crisis between Iran and the West as well as the political developments inside Iran.

Analysts believed there is still a long way to go before a final agreement on detailed sanctions, if any, would actually be reached by the parties.

An inconclusive meeting

"The group remains united, underlines its unity," Cooper said when referring to the six nations' common standing on the Iranian nuclear issue.

But in reality, unanimity is the last word to be used. Washington and its Western allies, accusing Iran of developing nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian program, have always provided the main if not the sole impetus to UN sanctions against Iran.

On the other hand, Russia and China have always been cautious or reluctant on slapping such punitive measures.

China maintains that sanctions will never resolve the root causes. "We believe that the pressing task now is that all parties concerned should step up diplomatic efforts, maintain and push forward the process of dialogue and negotiation to seek a comprehensive, long-term and proper settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue," Jiang Yu, spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in a December briefing.

Emerging from Saturday's talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said the meeting was "inconclusive in a sense that we didn't make any decisions right away.

"We have talked mostly today on the second track (sanctions), but it doesn't mean that we should abandon the first one," Ryabkov said, adding that there is "still time for meaningful political engagement and efforts to find a solution."

Analysts said the Iranian nuclear issue is very complicated because it is intrinsically related to other thorny matters like the imperfect international non-proliferation system, the confidence crisis between Iran and the West, as well as the political developments inside Iran.

A?long way to go

Pushed by Washington and its Western allies, the UN Security Council has since 2006 slapped three sets of sanctions on Iran in a bid to force the Islamic republic to terminate uranium enrichment activities.

Progressively mounting pressure on Iran, the sanctions have mainly targeted Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programs and heavy weaponry, with the ultimate purpose of pushing Iran back to the negotiating table.

According to Western media reports, the United States, Britain, France and Germany hope that new UN sanctions would focus on the Iranian leadership, imposing travel restrictions on certain officials and expanding its coverage to Iran's key finance, insurance and shipping industries.

Previous UN talks on imposing sanctions on Iran have clearly shown that Russia and China are by no means ardent supporters of tough sanctions, especially economic ones that could have implications on ordinary Iranian people's life.

Long and dragged discussions are expected inside the world body before any agreement on a watered down proposal could be reached.