(New York Times) David E. Sanger - Gary Samore, President Obama's chief nuclear adviser, said Friday that the U.S. and its allies planned new sanctions in an effort to test "Iran's pain threshold" and force the country into suspending its production of nuclear fuel. Samore suggested that Iran may have decided to resume the talks with members of the UN Security Council and Germany "because it believes it can manipulate the appearance of negotiations to weaken existing sanctions and avoid additional measures." "This ploy will not work....We need to send the message to Iran that sanctions will only increase if Iran avoids serious negotiations and will not be lifted until our concerns are fully addressed." Asked about the effects of the Stuxnet computer worm, Samore said, "I'm glad to hear they are having troubles with their centrifuge machines, and the U.S. and its allies are doing everything we can to make it more complicated."
2010-12-13 08:10:48Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive