US preparing 'sanctions' against Iran: Obama

Noting that the international community is united around Iran's misbehaviour, United States President Barack Obama has said it will be worth watching how China operates at the United Nations Security Council where his administration is likely to propose additional sanctions against Tehran.

The US president appreciated Russia's role and said there were all indications that Iran was moving towards weaponisation programme, and 'if Iran's attitude does not change, the next step would be sanctions against them.'

He expressed confidence that the international community was unified around Iran's misbehaviour. "How China operates at the Security Council as we pursue sanctions is something that we're going to have to see," Obama told reporters at the White House.

The president was pleased to see how 'forward-leaning' the Russians have been on the issue.

"I think they clearly have seen that Iran hasn't been serious about solving what was a solvable dispute between Iran and the international community," he said.

Obama, in response to a question, said international community bent over backwards to say to Iran that they were willing to have a constructive conversation on how the Islamic republic could align itself with the international norms and rules and re-enter as full member of the community.

The most obvious attempt was when the international community offered Iran to convert some of low-enriched uranium, that they already have, into the isotopes that they need for their medical research and for hospitals that would serve up to a million Iranian citizens, Obama said.

"They rejected it -- although one of the difficulties in dealing with Iran over the last several months was that it was not clear who was speaking on behalf of the government, and we got a lot of different, mixed signals," he said.

"But what's clear was that they have not said yes to an agreement that Russia, China, Germany, France, Britain and the US all said was a good deal and the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency said that the right thing to do was to accept it," Obama said.

That indicates that, despite their posturing that their nuclear power was only for civilian use, that they in fact continue to pursue a course that would lead to weaponisation, the president said, adding 'it was not acceptable to international community, not just to the US.'

He said if Iran wants to accept the kind of agreements with the international community which lead to being a member of good standing, 'then we welcome you, and if not, then the next step is sanctions.'

"They have made their choice so far, although the door was still open. What we were going to work upon over the next several weeks was to develop a significant regime of sanctions that would indicate to them how isolated they were from the international community as a whole," Obama said.

Meanwhile, Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs P J Crowley said that Iranian decision to improve their processing to 20 per cent was an unnecessary step and 'they were working against their own long-term self-interest.'

He said that Iran had missed an opportunity to engage constructively and seriously with the international community despite it 'bent over backwards' in an attempt to provide the Islamic nation the benefits of civilian nuclear programme.

The US State Department official said that Iran decision to improve their processing to 20 per cent as 'provocative and it deepens our concern about what Iran's real intentions are and the country was technically not capable of doing the processing.'

Crowley said the international community had put forward the Tehran Research Reactor proposal 'in good-faith and thinking it to be practical and doable.'

"But if Iran did not want to accept it, there were others available. What really had to happen here was for Iran to sit down, identify what it really felt it needs, and work with the international community constructively on potential solutions, and in doing so start to build confidence about its intentions," Crowley said.

He said that the US would continue to consult with its counterparts within the P-5 plus on the process.