Senior officials from the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany will meet in Washington on Friday to discuss the Iran nuclear issue, the State Department announced Tuesday.

The six countries will try to find new ways to persuade Iran to halt its sensitive nuclear work, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

The scheduled meeting follows US call on Monday for Iran to stop enriching uranium and other reprocessing activities or face the possibility of further sanctions.

According to a Monday report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, due to Tehran's block, it had been unable to make much progress in investigating Iran's suspect nuclear program.

The United States and its allies have accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons, but Iran insists that its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes.

Iran till now has been under three UN sanctions over its disputed nuclear program. 　

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2008)