Obama Threatens ‘Package of Steps’ Against Iran

Vows to Punish Nation for Rejecting Third Party Enrichment Deal

by Jason Ditz, November 19, 2009

Citing Iran’s rejection of the third party uranium enrichment deal, a move which came just yesterday, President Barack Obama says that discussions are already taking places internationally on a response.

Obama insisted that over the next several weeks that international community would come up with “a package of potential steps that we could take that will indicate our seriousness to Iran.”

Iran’s rejection of the third party enrichment deal came primarily over concerns that it was expected to hand over its uranium stockpile first and would only get the more enriched fuel rods at a later date. Iran has expressed openness to hold additional talks and has proposed a direct swap as an alternative.

It is expected that the US will push forward with additional sanctions against Iran as its first reaction. The ability to do so has been very much in doubt as China and Russia have expressed reservations about adding to what has been an ever growing litany of sanctions applied over the past decade, but Russia has indicated recently that their opinion may be changing.