President Obama predicts 'strong and tough' Iran sanctions

President Barack Obama predicted Thursday that he would be able to achieve “strong, tough” sanctions against Iran in coming weeks and credited nuclear arms discussions with the Russians for helping to pave the way.

At least we now have a president who is respected by other countries and can get other countries to work with us. Sanctions are the right approach. Would you rather have a war?
But Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stopped well short of endorsing sanctions, questioning whether such economic restrictions would work to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Medvedev expressed openness to the idea, saying he gave Obama a list of sanctions that would be acceptable. He laid down two conditions — calling for “smart sanctions” that change Iran’s behavior, but that also protect Russia’s national interests, a sign he wouldn’t endorse a proposal that significantly cut into Russia’s trade with Iran.

“We need Iran to behave properly and we need to maintain the national interest of our two countries, so smart sanctions should be able to motivate certain countries to behave properly,” Medvedev said after signing the START nuclear arms reduction treaty.

Medvedev also acknowledged that “regrettably” Iran is flouting world opinion in pressing ahead with its nuclear program. "And we cannot turn a blind eye to this," he said.

Obama made clear that he hopes to build on his success getting Russia to sign onto a reduction of its nuclear arsenal by getting Medvedev also to sign on to cracking down on Iran for pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran sanctions are going to be a key topic of Obama’s nuclear summit in Washington next week, when he plans to sit down with the other major holdout on the idea — Chinese President Hu Jintao.

But Obama sounded more optimistic than ever than he could achieve his goal.

"We’re going to start seeing some ramped-up negotiations taking place in New York in the coming weeks," he says. "And my expectation is that we are going to be able to secure strong, tough sanctions on Iran this spring."

Obama said the United States and Russia have benefited on the sanctions process in two ways by signing the START pact: It has emboldened their leaders' trust in each other, and it sends a "strong signal" that they are following their own obligations.

We can be frank. We can be clear," Obama says. "That helped to facilitate, then, our ability to ... present to Iran reasonable options that would allow it to clearly distance itself from nuclear weapons and pursue a path of peaceful nuclear energy."

Russia and China have long resisted sanctions against Iran because both countries do business with Iran. And in fact, in outlining sanctions that would be unacceptable to Russia, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said a total embargo on deliveries of refined oil products to Iran is off the table because it would be a “huge shock for the whole society and the whole population."

Despite being an oil-rich nation, Iran imports most of its gasoline — mainly from China, but also from Russia. "These types of things that [disrupt] the fundamentals of a society or a country are something that definitely we are not prepared to consider," Ryabkov said. But he declined to outline the list of possible sanctions Medvedev delivered to Obama, saying it is confidential.

"We also believe that whatever sanctions eventually are adopted and agreed upon in New York, we should maintain unity. It is very important that all countries ... stand together and send the same signal," Ryabkov said.

For his part, Obama said Russia "has no interest in bringing down Iranian society or the Iranian government, but it does have an interest, as we all do, in making sure that each country is following its international obligations."

"This is an issue that international community takes seriously," he said.

Obama also said signing the treaty shows both the United States and Russia are willing to be bound by their obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and that should send a powerful signal to other nations that they must comply as well.

“The United States and Russia are following our own obligations” under the treaty, “and our interest in Iran or North Korea or any other country following” it is “not based on singling out any one country, but rather it sends a strong signal that all of us — each country — has an obligation to follow the rules of the road internationally to secure a safer world for our children and grandchildren.

“We are willing to be bound by our obligations and we are not asking any other countries to do anything different,” Obama said.