World powers said after talks on Tuesday on the Iranian nuclear programme that they had agreed on a new UN Security Council resolution against Tehran, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.

"We agreed on the content of the next Security Council resolution," Steinmeier said after the meeting of foreign ministers from the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany in Berlin.

A senior US official said the new resolution "increases the severity of the sanctions already in place and will also introduce new elements."