December 16, 2010 | Press Release

White House Official at FDD Event Signals More Iran Sanctions Soon to Come

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Press Release

December 10, 2010

CONTACT:

Judy Mayka

202-621-3948
[email protected]

 

White House Official at FDD Event Signals More Iran Sanctions Soon to Come


Washington, D.C. (December 10, 2010)

A senior American official told a conference in Washington on Friday that the United States might soon impose new economic sanctions on Iran and that recent talks in Geneva fell short of already-low expectations.

“I think it would be an important message to send to take additional measures in the near future,” leading White House nuclear nonproliferation official Gary Samore told an audience at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ annual Washington Forum, in response to a question about whether the Obama administration would pursue stronger enforcement of existing laws, or enact new sanctions ahead of forthcoming talks in Turkey.

Samore credited the Bush administration for pursuing negotiations with Iran in its last years, but said President Bush had been unable to persuade the world that the U.S. was genuinely interested in a diplomatic accommodation to the nuclear program. “I think President Obama has removed any doubt,” making it “abundantly clear that the country blocking an agreement is not the U.S., it is Iran.”

Dr. Gary Samore’s full remarks will be posted at www.fddwashingtonforum.org.

With Tehran having refused to discuss its ongoing nuclear program in the latest round of negotiations with Western powers in Geneva, U.S. and European leaders are once again struggling to manage Iranian recalcitrance. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, FDD has devoted its annual Washington Forum to Countering the Iranian Threat. The event brings together senior U.S. policymakers, members of Congress, European and Israeli diplomats, intelligence specialists, military officials, and proliferation experts to discuss the nature of the Iranian regime, and the policy options available to confront it. A full schedule of Washington Forum events can be found here.

To book an interview or for more information on the Foundation for Defense of Democracies please contact Judy Mayka at (202) 621-3948 or [email protected].

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The Foundation for Defense of Democracies is a non-profit, non-partisan policy institute dedicated exclusively to promoting pluralism, defending democratic values, and fighting the ideologies that drive terrorism. Founded shortly after the attacks of 9/11, FDD combines policy research, democracy and counterterrorism education, strategic communications, and investigative journalism in support of its mission. For more information, please visit www.defenddemocracy.org.