Obama presses China and Russia over Iran

President Barack Obama yesterday canvassed the leaders of skeptical Russia and China after calling for new sanctions and isolation for Iran over revelations about its nuclear programme.

Mr Obama met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao on a day of high-level diplomacy on the eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in his home state of Hawaii.

Washington reacted to the release of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report Tuesday citing “credible” evidence that Iran had worked towards nuclear weapons, with a call for more steps to isolate Tehran.

But Russia and China, which could block a stiffening of international sanctions as permanent members of the UN Security Council, responded coolly to the outrage expressed by the United States and its allies.

Mr Obama said after talks with Mr Medvedev that the two sides had “reaffirmed our intention to work to shape a common response so we can move Iran to follow its international obligations when it comes to its nuclear program.”

But he steered clear of the sanctions debate in public. Mr Medvedev told reporters that the two sides discussed Iran but offered no further details.

Mr Obama also spoke publicly about Iran at a photo-op before his meeting with Hu, but he was even less specific, calling for “efforts to jointly ensure that countries like Iran are abiding by international rules and norms.”

US officials said that there was no disagreement in the talks on the need for Iran to satisfy international norms and obligations on its nuclear programme.

But they also said that Obama did not raise specifically the most divisive issue – the call for more sanctions on Tehran.

“Both Russia and China said that they do not want to see the spread of nuclear weapons to Iran or frankly to any new state,” said Ben Rhodes, a US deputy national security advisor. “They remain committed to diplomatic efforts to tell Iran to live up to its obligations.”

White House spokesman Jay Carney added: “there was no disagreement about the need for Iran to live up to its international obligations, or any discussion about disagreements about (the IAEA) report.