US to push for more UN sanctions on Iran: Obama adviser

 
WASHINGTON: The US is pushing for more sanctions in the UN Security Council against Iran for its continued pursuit of a nuclear programme, President Barack Obama's national security adviser said Sunday.

"We are about to add to that regime's difficulties by engineering, participating in very tough sanctions," James Jones told the Fox News channel.

The added measures could come before the end of February, he said.

Jones said support for sanctions in the UN was already growing, and that he was hopeful to gain Chinese support.

"We are on a clear path for what needs to happen next," he said. "We need to work on China a little bit more. China wants to be seen as a responsible global influence, and on this issue they cannot be non-supportive."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week that Iran is capable of enriching uranium to a level that Western experts believe would allow development of a nuclear weapon.

Jones said that the tighter sanctions, amid unrest in Iran, "could trigger regime change".

Washington, along with Germany and Security Council veto powers Britain, France, Russia and China have offered to trade Iran's low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel that the country could use for peaceful purposes.

The new push for UN sanctions is in response to Iran's failure to accept that deal, Jones said. IANS