(JTA) — Six world powers met to discuss how to pressure Iran to halt its nuclear production but could not arrive at a consensus.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China met Saturday in New York. China sent a lower-level representative than the rest of the countries and refused to consider further sanctions against Iran.

In a statement released following the meeting, the powers said that Iran had not cooperated appropriately with the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, and that while they were committed to a negotiated settlement, the powers would begin to consider further sanctions. 

On Monday during a conference in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki criticized the international community for banning Iran from having a nuclear program while ignoring "the hundreds of nuclear warheads stockpiled in the Zionist regime’s reactors."