Reuters: U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he expected to secure tough new sanctions on Iran this spring over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme. PRAGUE (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday he expected to secure tough new sanctions on Iran this spring over Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
The West suspects Iran is using its civilian nuclear programme to covertly build nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. It says it wants nuclear power to generate electricity and allow it to export more of its oil and gas.
The United States and its European allies want to curb the Islamic state's nuclear activities and are pushing for new U.N.-backed sanctions against Tehran.
"My expectation is that we are going to be able to secure strong, tough sanctions on Iran this spring," he told a news conference after signing a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Czech capital.
"Discussions about the sanctions on Iran have been moving forward over the last several weeks. In fact, they have been moving forward over the last several months. We are going to start seeing some ramped up negotiations taking place in (United Nations) New York in the coming weeks," he said.
(Reporting by Caren Bohan; Writing by Jon Boyle; Editing by Peter Millership)
