US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says a “coalition of the willing” may move ahead on tough measures against Iran for its nuclear program if the UN Security Council does not. Rice, speaking at a foreign-policy event in Chicago late Wednesday, said she remained confident that the crisis can be resolved with diplomacy — though not necessarily always via the UN. “You know that there are states that have been saying that if we don’t get meaningful measures inside the Security Council, perhaps a coalition of the willing will think about other financial or political measures that could be taken,” she told the audience.Rice restated the US administration’s standard position that all options are on the table in dealing with Iran, “and we have always said that the right to self-defense does not necessarily require a UN Security Council resolution.” But she contrasted Iran with Iraq, where a US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003. “The issue here is to mobilize the international community, to unify the international community around the view that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Rice said. “It’s a very different situation,” she said. “I believe we can make diplomacy work.”