By Richard Adam
President Barack Obama said he would like to see new sanctions in place against Iran "in weeks", during a press conference with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy at the White House today.
"My hope is that we are going to get this done this spring. I'm not interested in waiting months for a sanctions regime to be in place. I'm interested in seeing that regime in weeks," Obama said.
"In the interim, we are going to move forcefully for a UN sanctions regime," Obama said. "Do we have unanimity in the international community on sanctions? Not yet. And that's something that we have to work on."
The US has been lobbying for new sanctions against Iran over its continued work on nuclear weapon infrastructure, in defiance of UN resolutions. But China and Russia remain an obstacle on the UN Security Council, thanks to their ability to veto any new resolutions.
"We don't want to see a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. A conflict in the Middle East, as a consequence of Iran's actions, could have a huge destabilizing effect in terms of the world economy, at a time when it's just coming out of a very deep recession," Obama said.
"The long-term consequences of a nuclear-armed Iran are unacceptable. And so Nicolas, myself and others agree that we have engaged. The door remains open, if the Iranians choose to walk through it."
Obama's stance was supported by President Sarkozy, who said the US and French administrations were "inseparable" on the subject. "The time has come to take decisions. Iran cannot continue its mad race," to build a nuclear weapon, Sarkozy said.
The French president said he would work alongside German chancellor Angela Merkel and British prime minister Gordon Brown: "We will make all necessary efforts to ensure that Europe as a whole engages in the sanctions regime."
Sarkozy was also eager to puncture reports that he and Obama have failed to get along. "I said to him, 'I do trust you,' and I do trust him," he said, smiling.
The meeting between the two is the culmination of closer ties between the two countries, with French diplomats boasting that the relationship is the best in recent memory.
