Time to consider far tougher Iran sanctions: Britain

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The world should consider "far tougher sanctions" against Iran if it continues to seek a nuclear bomb, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told the U.N. Security Council on Thursday.

Iran denies it is seeking nuclear weapons, but it is defying U.N. Security Council resolutions ordering it to suspend enriching uranium.

"As evidence of its breach of international agreements grows, we must now consider far tougher sanctions together," Brown said at a Security Council summit chaired by U.S. President Barack Obama.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he supported dialogue with Tehran but so far it had produced no results and Iran had continued to enrich uranium.

"There comes a time when stubborn facts will compel us to take a decision if we want a world without nuclear weapons," Sarkozy said after the Security Council passed a resolution calling on nuclear weapons states to scrap their arsenals.

Both leaders also spoke about North Korea's nuclear weapons program, saying it was violating international regulations.

"If we have the courage to affirm and impose sanctions together against those who violate resolutions of the Security Council, we will be lending credibility to our commitment toward a world with fewer nuclear weapons," Sarkozy said.

(Reporting by Claudia Parsons; Editing by Patrick Worsnip and Sandra Maler)