Obama wants new sanctions on Iran within weeks

U.S. President Barack Obama has said he wants the new set of sanctions against Iran to be placed within weeks and not in months.

“My hope is that we are going to get this (sanctions against Iran) done this spring. So I am not interested in waiting months for a sanctions regime to be in place. I’m interested in seeing that regime in place in weeks,” Mr. Obama said in response to a question at a joint White House press conference with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

“We think that we can get sanctions within weeks,” Mr. Obama said, adding his administration is working to emphasise its international partners that this is not simply an issue of trying to isolate Iran.

The issue has enromous implications for the safety and the security of the entire region, according to him.

“We don’t want to see a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. A conflict in the Middle East as a consequence of Iran’s actions could have a huge destabilising effect in terms of the world economy at a time when it’s just coming out of a very deep recession,” the U.S. President said.

Referring to the initial policies of his administration, Mr. Obama said the approach to Tehran was to engage it and provide the opportunity to take the right path to prosperity.

The alternative path was further isolation and further consequences, he added.

“We mobilised the international community around this approach, including partners like Russia that in the past might have been more hesitant to take a firmer stance on Iran’s nuclear program. What we said, though, was that there was going to be a time limit to it and that if we had not seen progress by the end of the year, it was time for U.S. to move forward on that sanctions track,” he noted.

The U.S. President said the long—term consequences of a nuclear—armed Iran were unacceptable.

“And so Nicolas (Sarkozy), myself and others agree that we have engaged; the door remains open if the Iranians choose to walk through it. But they understand very clearly what the terms of a diplomatic solution would be. And in the interim we are going to move forcefully on a UN sanctions regime,” Mr. Obama said.

Acknowledging that there is no unanimity in the global community on this issue, he said more work has to be done, despite the U.S.’ stronger position to impose sanctions against Tehran.

“Partly (this was) because, Iran is a oil producer and there are a lot of countries around the world that, regardless of Iran’s offences, are thinking that their commercial interests are more important to them than these long—term geopolitical interests,” he said, adding the U.S. was “very clearly” communicating the importance of its stand.

Mr. Obama said he and the French President discussed their shared determination to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“On this the U.S. and France are united, are inseparable.

With our P5—plus-1 partners, we offer Iran good faith proposals to resolve this matter through diplomacy. But Iran thus far has rejected those offers. Today, the international community is more united than ever on the need for Iran to uphold its obligations. And that’s why we’re pursuing strong sanctions through the UN Security Council,” he said.

Agreeing with his American counterpart, France president Mr. Sarkozy said the time has come to take decisions.

“Iran cannot continue its mad race. Now, we don’t want to punish Iran, which deserves better than what it has by way of leadership today, and therefore fully support in order to get stronger, tougher sanctions at the Security Council and take the necessary decisions is what you have,” Mr. Sarkozy said.

The French president also informed Mr. Obama that he, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Premier Gordon Brown would make all necessary efforts to ensure Europe’s engagement in the sanction regime.

Obama calls Chilean President to express condolence

President Barack Obama called his Chilean counterpart Michelle Bachelet to express condolence in the aftermath of the massive earthquake in the country in which hundreds are feared dead, even as he said that US is ready to provide assistance in relief efforts.

“This afternoon, President Obama spoke with President Michelle Bachelet to express his condolences for the losses Chile suffered as a result of this morning’s tragic earthquake,” the White House said in a statement.

Mr. Obama commended President Bachelet for the Chilean government’s response to the disaster and recognised Chile’s capacity and expertise in responding to earthquakes.

“He reiterated that the United States stands ready to assist the Chilean government’s rescue and recovery efforts.

President Bachelet thanked President Obama for his call, and said that she would be in touch should Chile require any support,” the White House said.

“Early indications are that hundreds of lives have been lost in Chile, and the damage is severe,” Mr. Obama said in a statement at the White House after he was briefed by his national security team after a massive earthquake hit Chile Saturday.

Noting that the devastating earthquake has affected millions of people in Chile, he said: “This catastrophic event was followed by multiple aftershocks, and has prompted tsunami warnings across the Pacific Ocean.”

Mr. Obama said the US stands ready to assist in the rescue and recovery efforts.

“We have resources that are positioned to deploy should the Chilean government ask for our help,” he said.

Observing that Chile is a close friend and partner of the US, Mr. Obama said, “I’ve reached out to President Bachelet to let her know that we will be there for her should the Chilean people need assistance, and our hearts go out to the families who may have lost loved ones.”

The US President said his administration is also preparing for a tsunami that could reach American shores later today, particularly in Hawaii, American Samoa, and Guam.

“A tsunami warning is in place, and people have been alerted to evacuate coastal areas.

I urge citizens to listen closely to the instructions of local officials, who will have the full support of the federal government as they prepare for a potential tsunami, and recover from any damage that may be caused,” he said.

“I also urge our citizens along the West Coast to be prepared as well, as there may be dangerous waves and currents throughout the day.

In the hours ahead, we’ll continue to take every step possible to prepare our shores and protect our citizens.

And we will stand with the people of Chile as they recovery from this terrible tragedy,” said the US President.

Asian stock markets tumble after Obama’s proposed banking reform

Asian stock markets tumbled Friday after President Barack Obama proposed a sweeping overhaul of Wall Street banks to avert future financial crises.

Losses spread across most markets and sectors across the region, following an overnight retreat in the U.S.

Commodity prices eased while the dollar lost ground against the yen and euro.

Obama said he would seek to limit the size and complexity of large financial companies so their collapse wouldn’t imperil the broader financial system and economy, leading to more bailouts at taxpayers’ expense. The move comes amid growing public frustration with Wall Street and bank rescues.

As in the U.S., bank stocks fell in Asia but other industries also suffered steep drops as investors scaled back their riskier bets amid uncertainty about the ultimate effects of the U.S. proposal.

Japan helped lead Asia’s declines, with the Nikkei 225 stock average plummeting 330.15 points, or 3 percent, to 10,538.26.

Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 593.28 points, or 2.8 percent, to 20,269.39 and Korea’s main market index lost 52.08 points, or 3 percent, to 1,669.93.

China’s Shanghai benchmark fell 2.2 percent, India’s market shed 1.8 percent and Australian stocks retreated 1.8 percent.

In the U.S. Thursday, Wall Street was yanked lower by heavy selling in bank stocks.

The Dow fell 213.27, or 2 percent, to 10,389.88, its biggest point and percentage drop since Oct. 30.

The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 index fell 21.56, or 1.9 percent, to 1,116.48. The Nasdaq composite index fell 25.55, or 1.1 percent, to 2,265.70.

Oil prices fell in Asia, with benchmark crude for March delivery down 19 cents at $75.89 a barrel. The contract dropped $1.66 to settle at $76.08 overnight.

The dollar weakened to 89.91 yen from 90.49 yen. The euro was higher at $1.4120 from $1.4082.

Ties with India very important: U.S.

As Obama Administration completed its first year in office, the White House has said that partnership with India is “critical and very important“.

“It should be clear that we continue here at the White House and in the National Security Council to view the partnership with India is critical and very important,” Mike Hammer, White House spokesman told PTI on Thursday on the occasion of U.S. President Barack Obama completing one year in office.

In the words of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, it launched third phase —— Indo-US 3.0 —— of relationship with New Delhi.

For Indo-US relationship, one of the key features of the second year of Obama Administration would be Obama’s visit to India sometime this year.

“The President very much looks forward to visit India this year, but do not have any concrete announcement to make regarding that visit,” Mr. Hammer said.

It was during the State Visit of the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in November that Mr. Obama said he has accepted the invitation to visit India this year.

Mr. Obama is expected to take his entire family to India on his first ever visit to the country.

“President Obama had made priority in the first year of his Administration to a develop close partnership with India to build on the previous administration’s work.

And fully realising that there is a great potential for growth and further work between our two countries in advancing a common agenda on major issues of concern to the global community, which include issues like economic development, like climate change, energy, and also promoting peace around the globe,” Mr. Hammer said reviewing Indo-US relationship in the first year of the Administration.

“In that spirit the President had his first and the only State Dinner with Prime Minister Singh.

That event marked really the closeness and bonds between our two countries and really reflected the deep affection that there is for India and the contributions as well the Indian-Americans make to American society,” said the White House spokesperson.

It was during this administration that the White House appointed a senior director level official at the National Security Council to exclusively handle America’s relationship with India, he pointed out.

The first year also included important visits by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defence Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Advisor James Jones.

“So we see a continuing already of that deep engagement this year with the recent visit of Secretary Gates.

I fully anticipate that every effort would be made on the part of the United States to forge an even deeper partnership with India in this coming year,” Mr. Hammer said.