With no clear sign the United States can win UN support for sanctions against Iran, the Bush administration said on Tuesday it could work instead with like-minded nations to punish Tehran for its nuclear programmes. The United States, which has its own sanctions on the Islamic republic, is lobbying for the United Nations Security Council to impose international sanctions on Iran but faces resistance from veto holders Russia and China. “If for whatever reason the council couldn’t fulfil its responsibilities, then I think it would be incumbent on us, and I’m sure we would press ahead to ask other countries or other groups of countries to impose those sanctions,” US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton told a House of Representatives government reform subcommittee. Under sharp questioning from Democrats who said President George W Bush appeared intent on war with Iran, Bolton dismissed as “fiction” news reports that US covert forces were in Iran. He said Bush was focused on diplomatic remedies. “I think we are going to move ahead very quickly with our Chapter 7 resolution on Iran, and have consultations quickly,” Bolton told reporters after returning to UN headquarters to meet with French and British diplomats. The draft would be shown to Security Council members “within a day or two” he said.