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Gates: Iran Sanctions May Be "Stronger than Expected"
(Voice of America) Al Pessin - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the draft UN Security Council resolution on sanctions against Iran is stronger than he expected, and if nations follow through with even stronger steps of their own, it could help convince Iran to change its nuclear policy. "As best I can tell, if the resolution were to be passed in anything like its current form, it's actually somewhat stronger than I expected," he said. Gates says the resolution serves as a reminder of Iran's international isolation and that all the major powers oppose its nuclear weapons ambitions. "The resolution provides a new legal platform that allows individual countries and organizations, such as the EU, to take significantly more stringent actions on their own, that go way beyond, well beyond, what the UN resolution calls for," he said. "As we go along in this process, I think that the ratcheting up of what other countries are willing to do on their own, using the resolution as a basis, does have the potential to change behavior," he added. Gates says if Iran's leaders were not concerned about the impact of a resolution, they would not be trying so hard to block it.