Brown pushing for tighter sanctions against Iran

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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown — looking toward the future of U.S. relations — took the unusual step of meeting with the three presidential candidates yesterday before heading to the White House for a frank discussion about Iran and Iraq with President Bush.

Mr. Brown, visiting the White House for the first time as head of the government, said he is pushing within Europe for a new round of sanctions against Iran because of its continued pursuit of nuclear weapons in defiance of the international community.

"I make no apology for saying that we will extend sanctions where possible on Iran," said Mr. Brown during a Rose Garden press conference with Mr. Bush. "Iran has not told the truth to the international community about what its plans are."

Mr. Brown said he is "talking to other European leaders about how we can extend European sanctions against Iran ... in the next few weeks."

Mr. Bush backed up Mr. Brown's comments only by saying that Iran has "proven themselves to be untrustworthy," pointing out a secret nuclear weapons program that was halted in 2003 as evidence that Tehran is not enriching uranium only to make energy.

"Gordon Brown seriously sees the threat, as do I," Mr. Bush said. "And now is the time to confront the threat. And I believe we can solve the problem diplomatically."

Mr. Bush said it would be "naive" to think Iran could not transfer uranium-enrichment knowledge from a civilian power program to a military program.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Brown met with the Sens. Barack Obama, Hillary Rodham Clinton and John McCain at the British Embassy.

"What I was convinced of, after talking to each of them and talking about the issues that concern them and concern the world, is that the relationship between America and Britain will remain strong, remain steadfast," Mr. Brown said. "It will be one that will be able to rise to the challenges of the future."

Mrs. Clinton said in a statement that she discussed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the China situation and the global economy, and "expressed my confidence that the relationship between our two nations will continue to deepen as we confront a wide range of global challenges and opportunities."