PARIS: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday ratcheted up the pressure China to recognise the threat from Iran's nuclear programme and join international calls for sanctions.

Washington and other powers will turn up the heat on China as they "move away from the engagement track, which has not produced the results that some had hoped for, and move towards the pressure and sanctions track," she said.

"China will be under a lot of pressure to recognise the destabilising impact that a nuclear-armed Iran would have in the Gulf from which they receive a significant percentage of their oil supplies," she added, speaking in Paris.

The United States and its Western allies fear Iran is secretly developing fissile material for nuclear weapons under the cover of its uranium enrichment programme -- a charge denied by Tehran.

China, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, has always favoured diplomacy with Iran over sanctions.

Clinton said China was hesitant to jeopardise economic ties with Iran, but urged it to "think about the longer-term implications" for peace in the region.

Arriving in France from London after an international conference on stabilising Afghanistan, Clinton met with President Nicolas Sarkozy and then spoke at a military academy in central Paris.

During her address, she also urged NATO allies to reach out to Russia for cooperation as part of a broad drive to revitalise European security partnerships.

"We are called to address some of the greatest challenges in human history," such as terrorism and climate change, she said. "To meet them, we are required to modernise and strengthen our (trans-Atlantic) partnership for this new era."

Clinton reiterated the United States' opposition to Russia's call for a new set of security accords for Europe, but said Washington wanted serious cooperation with Russia on missile defence for Europe.

"We believe that these common (security) goals are best pursued in the context of existing institutions... rather than by negotiating new treaties, as Russia has suggested," she said.

She cited the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the NATO-Russia Council, calling for efforts to "revitalise" the latter to improve cooperation on areas including Afghanistan and anti-missile defence.

"Missile defence will make this continent a safer place. That safety could extend to Russia, if Russia decides to cooperate with us," she added.

"Russia is no longer our adversary but a partner on key global issues."

Sarkozy's office had said his talks with Clinton would cover Afghanistan, the Middle East, Iran and global warming. She was also due to meet with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner later.

"We will work even more closely now that France is fully participating in NATO's integrated command structure," Clinton said. France rejoined the NATO military command last year.