U.S. President Barack Obama says he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have agreed to devise “a common response” to new allegations that Iran has been covertly trying to build a nuclear bomb.
Obama spoke to reporters after he and Medvedev held talks November 12 on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Honolulu, Hawaii.
“We discussed Iran, and reaffirmed our intention to work to shape a common response so that we can move Iran to follow its international obligations when it comes to its nuclear program,” Obama told reporters.
Later, Obama met with Chinese President Hu Jintao, and said that he and the Chinese leader wanted to ensure that Iran follows what he called “international rules and norms.”
Neither the Russian nor the Chinese leader publicly addressed the Iran issue after their talks with Obama.
Russia and China have previously joined the U.S. in supporting four rounds of United Nations Security Council sanctions against Iran over its uranium enrichment work.
However, reports say Russia and China, which both hold vetoes on the UN Security Council, appear reluctant to impose further sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Last week, the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), released a report saying that Iran had worked on developing an atomic bomb design, and may still be conducting such research.
Iran, which denies it seeks to develop nuclear weapons, has condemned and rejected the IAEA findings, but has not yet offered detailed answers to the agency’s allegations.
Tehran says its nuclear program is to for peaceful energy production and research only.
compiled from agency reports