Australia, others, to follow U.S. Iran sanctions: Downer

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Many nations will follow the United States in slapping sanctions on Iran if it fails to suspend its nuclear enrichment program soon, Australia, a strong U.S. ally, said.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's statement closely followed a strong defense on Friday by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice of expanded U.S. sanctions on Tehran.

"If their enrichment program isn't suspended some time fairly soon, as it's meant to be, then you will see a lot of countries introducing different types of measures and sanctions against Iran," Downer told ABC Television's Lateline program late on Friday.

The United States slapped new sanctions on Iran on Thursday, accusing its Revolutionary Guard of spreading weapons of mass destruction.

This sent New York oil prices surging on Friday to record highs above $92 a barrel on supply fears. Russian President Vladimir Putin added to tensions by criticizing the U.S. sanctions, ahead of Downer's statement.

Downer told the ABC that Washington was not trying to set itself on a path to war with Tehran, although the Americans as a matter of doctrine never ruled in or ruled out military action.

"What they're doing is applying much tougher sanctions against Iran," he said.

The European Union, Japan and Australia would wait "for a little while" to see if further progress eventuated in negotiations with Iran on the nuclear issue, Downer said.

The Australian Foreign Minister said he expected the global community to be looking at financial sanctions against Iran.