Fresh talks on Iran sanctions

Seoul: US President Barack Obama said yesterday his country has begun talking with allies about fresh punishment against Iran for defying efforts to halt its nuclear weapons pursuits.

Obama's tough talk came as Iran indicated it would not ship its low-enriched uranium to Russia for processing, the centrepiece of deal aimed at a peaceful resolution to Iran's contested nuclear programme.

"They have been unable to get to ‘yes', and so as a consequence, we have begun discussions with our international partners about the importance of having consequences," Obama said in a brief news conference with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

New package

Obama said a new package of punitive steps will likely be developed "over the next several weeks". He did not get more specific about the nature of any new sanctions, which would require commitments of international support that are hardly clear yet.

Standing side by side, Obama and Lee signalled impatience over another nuclear threat, North Korea. They both declared fresh, united steps in getting that nation to give up its own nuclear weapons.

Lee said Obama had rallied behind his idea for a one-time "grand bargain" with North Korea of aid and concessions in exchange for de-nuclearisation, rather than the stalled step-by-step process. And Obama said his envoy would travel to North Korea early next month for the first bilateral talks with the communist government since he took office.

The South Korea stop was the final dash of diplomacy for Obama on a weeklong Asia trip, and although he and Lee trumpeted the strength of their nations' alliance, a stalled trade deal continues to vex them.

The ambitious South Korean-US pact has bogged down over US lawmakers' worries it could hurt the struggling American auto industry.

Options

On Iran, Obama advanced the prospect of sanctions but held out the option of diplomacy.

He said Iran must get a "clear message" and described a "package of potential steps that we could take that will indicate our seriousness to Iran. "I continue to hold out the prospect that they may decide to walk through this door," Obama said, although US hopes for agreement with Iran were dimming.

A senior administration official later said Obama was purposely vague on Iran to leave a tiny door open for Tehran and to not undermine the search for international consensus that remains in an embryonic phase.

UN team to take stock

UN inspectors were expected to visit Iran's controversial second uranium enrichment plant late yesterday, a day after Tehran rejected a Washington-backed nuclear fuel deal.

The visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team to the plant, which is being built near the Shi'ite holy city of Qom, was announced on Wednesday by Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh.

The inspection is the second by the IAEA in less than a month. Four inspectors first visited the plant on October 25 after its disclosure by Iran to the agency triggered outrage in the West.