Britain backs U.S. Iran sanctions, vows new U.N. push

LONDON - Britain said on Thursday it backed Washington's decision to impose new sanctions on Iran and vowed to take the lead in pulling together a third round of United Nations Security Council sanctions.

"We endorse the U.S. administration's efforts to apply further pressure on the Iranian regime," a Foreign Office spokesman said. "We are prepared to lead the way to a third resolution of sanctions and at the same time support tougher European Union sanctions."

In a bid to pressure Tehran to halt its nuclear programme, the United States earlier designated Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a proliferator of weapons of mass destruction and its elite Qods force a supporter of terrorism.