[Jerusalem Post] Herb Keinon - President Obama's engagement policy with Iran has led to a "new spirit" in Europe and a growing consensus for stringent sanctions against Tehran if Obama's policy does not yield results, according to assessments received this week in Jerusalem. Since Obama said that he would reassess U.S. policy toward Iran at the end of the year, even the "weakest links" on Iran inside Europe - Sweden, Spain and Germany - have begun falling into line behind the possible need for much stiffer sanctions. With Obama now willing to give the engagement some six months, they are now indicating they would back the measures if the engagement failed. One senior government official said there was an appreciation that Obama's engagement with Iran would only be successful if Tehran understood it had something to lose if the dialogue did not yield results.
2009-05-22 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive