(AP) Matthew Lee - The Obama administration moved Thursday to head off a joint Turkish-Brazilian effort that could help Iran avoid new UN sanctions over its nuclear program. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu that Iran is not serious about accepting international demands to prove its nuclear program peaceful. Clinton will likely give the same message to Brazil ahead of a weekend visit to Tehran by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Turkey and Brazil are members of the Security Council and are opposed to new sanctions. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said that Clinton had stressed that "Iran's recent diplomacy was an attempt to stop Security Council action without actually taking steps to address international concerns about its nuclear program." "There is nothing new and nothing encouraging in Iran's recent statements," he said. Iran's "lack of seriousness about engagement requires us to intensify efforts to apply greater pressure."
2010-05-14 08:32:24Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive