Obama claims G-8 resolve against Iran

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By Stephen Dinan

L'AQUILA, Italy | Wrapping up the three-day Group of Eight summit, President Obama said Friday that the world's major powers are ready to act if Iran fails to show good-faith efforts and negotiate about its nuclear development program by a September deadline agreed to by the G-8 leaders.

Later in the day, the president met in Rome with Pope Benedict XVI in a 30-minute private audience in which the pontiff stressed the church's opposition to abortion and stem-cell research and Mr. Obama said he was committed to reducing the number of abortions in the United States.

Mr. Obama pushed back at reports that U.S. officials had tried and failed to get a stronger G-8 response, including new sanctions, to head off Iran's nuclear development program. Iran insists its nuclear efforts are for peaceful, civilian uses.

But he also raised expectations for the September meeting of major countries in Pittsburgh, saying the nations will take stock then of whether Iran has complied with international demands.

The joint G-8 statement on Iran "provides a time frame," Mr. Obama said. "If Iran chooses not to walk through that door, then you have on record the G-8 to begin with, but I think potentially a lot of other countries, that are going to say we need to take further steps."

TWT RELATED STORIES:
• Obama: Africa at moment of 'promise'
• Obama: Stimulus working as planned
• Obama to African leaders: Time for 'responsibility'

Over three days of meetings here, Mr. Obama called for new organizations to reflect the realities of the new international order, met with the pope, and won mostly rave reviews from his fellow leaders. Late in the evening, Mr. Obama and his family arrived in Ghana for a brief visit, the first to a sub-Saharan African country since Mr. Obama was elected.

"The new Obama administration has done everything absolutely right," said Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the summit host.

The president said the U.S. and its partners are "not going to just wait indefinitely" while Iran works on a nuclear weapon.

Mr. Obama spent two days in Russia before traveling to Italy for three days of meetings surrounding the G-8, which represents the world's leading economies and includes Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and Russia.