Progress was being made in lining up further support for U. N. Security Council sanctions against Iran, U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.

"Tremendous progress" has been made in efforts to persuade Russia to accept further sanctions in response, Clinton said during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington Voice of America reported that she also said progress has been made in convincing China further sanctions are in Beijing's interest.

VOA further said that Russia and China have been the most reluctant Security Council members to go along with further sanctions.

Clinton testified Wednesday progress was being made with Russia largely because of President Barack Obama's engagement with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. "An arms race in the Gulf" would not be in China's interest because it would "further destabilize the major oil producers," she said.

She further said," And I think we've made a lot of progress. Now we don't come out and have a press conference every time we have these meetings. But I have seen over the past year the attitudes about Iran evolve."

According to the VOA reports, Clinton testified the Iran sanctions issue leads her diplomatic agenda. (With Input from Agencies)