Obama, Hu discuss new Iran sanctions

US President Barack Obama and his Chinese President Hu Jintao have held a private meeting ahead of the Washington nuclear security summit and discussed the international response to Iran’s nuclear program. Obama and Hu agreed in the meeting that Iran must meet its non-proliferation obligations. The two also said they are instructing their delegations to work on a sanctions resolution. A spokesman for the Chinese delegation said in a statement that the two countries "share the same overall goal on the Iranian nuclear issue”, adding that "China hopes that various parties will continue to step up diplomatic efforts and actively seek effective ways to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations.”

Although initially reluctant, Beijing has now committed to talks at the United Nations about new Iran sanctions. Appearing on the NBC program ‘Meet the Press’ on Sunday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates both defended the Obama administration policy of seeking a unified international response to Iran's nuclear ambitions. “The Iranians have been beating down the doors of every country in the world to try to avoid a new sanctions resolution," Clinton said on the program.

Meanwhile, Brazil and Turkey – which both hold non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council – are discussing an alternative to Iran sanctions. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said that President Lula da Silva and the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had talked about such a plan. Amorim told a news conference that Brazil agreeed with the permanent members of the Security Council in seeking a "diplomatic solution" but that Brasilia had a different perspective on how the issue should be approached.