Obama:No guarantee on sanctions

By JOSH GERSTEIN,Politico

 Obama admits,he will probably not get the international community behind his agenda

President Barack Obama acknowledged Tuesday that,despite his full-court press for tough sanctions aimed at persuading Iran to abandon its suspected nuclear weapons program,he could not promise that China and other major powers would go along.

“I am going to push as hard as I can to make sure that we get strong sanctions that have consequences for Iran as it’s making calculations about its nuclear program,and that those are done on a timely basis,” Obama said during a news conference at the end of the 47-nation summit he convened in Washington to address the dangers of nuclear terrorism.

The president met Monday with Chinese President Hu Jintao,and afterward White House aides portrayed China’s willingness to discuss the mechanics of a sanctions plan as major development and a sign of international unity on the issue. But,on Tuesday,the president himself was more sanguine about prospect of achieving sanctions with bite.

Obama said he was “mindful” that many countries have trade and energy ties to Iran that could be disrupted,but that “a strong number of nations” on the United Nations Security Council support sanctions.

But he was quick to add,“I’m not going to speculate beyond that in terms of where we are.”

Obama also left open the possibility that the sanctions won’t be successful. “Sanctions are not a magic wand,” he said. “What sanctions can do….is to hopefully change the calculus of a country like Iran.”

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