TEHRAN - The United States will not be able to convince Russia and China to join efforts to impose sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in the short or even the medium run, international affairs analyst Hossein Purahmadi said here on Saturday.

The five permanent UN Security Council members -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain, and France -- plus Germany held talks on Iran on Saturday in London. In a statement issued by host Britain, the P5+1 group agreed to discuss sanctions next week.

“Due to its serious economic competition with the U.S., the European Union will not work in harmony with Washington,” Purahmadi told the Mehr News Agency.

The EU is coordinated with the U.S. on its major policies, but there is still serious economic competition between the bloc and the U.S., which will make the Europeans resist the United States’ hard-line policies, he added. “Iran once again wants to test the EU through its proposal for France to set up a consortium to enrich uranium on Iranian soil,” he noted.

“Tehran seeks to reach a conclusion on international supervision of its nuclear activities instead of suspension of its enrichment activities.”

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana has held a series of talks with Iranian negotiators in recent months on EU trade incentives offered to the Islamic Republic in exchange for halting uranium enrichment.

Purahmadi said that the U.S. plans to impose more demands on Iran beyond suspension.

“If Iran is hit with sanctions, Washington will demand a series of political and social changes to lift the sanctions,” he added.

The first set of sanctions is expected to focus on preventing the supply of material and funding for the country’s nuclear program, asset freezes, and travel bans on senior officials, the analyst added.

The Islamic Republic should use all its diplomatic skills to guarantee that it will be able to conduct uranium enrichment on its soil under international supervision, he suggested.

Analyst Sadeq Zibakalam said that sanctions would not be ineffective, but they cannot paralyze life in Iran.

“Sanctions will have a negative impact on Western investment as well as Iran’s imports and exports,” he told MNA on Saturday.

However, sanctions can influence the national economy for a long time if the crisis is not resolved diplomatically and if the sanctions include Iran’s oil and gas sales, he noted.