WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Wednesday warned Iran that the window for diplomacy to solve a nuclear showdown was "shrinking," stiffening his rhetoric ahead of looming talks on the issue.
Obama sent a public message to Iran as preparations went ahead for a new round of dialogue between global powers and the Islamic Republic, amid rising fears of a military confrontation, possibly triggered by Israel.
"In the past, there has been a tendency for Iran in these negotiations to delay, to stall, to do a lot of talking but not actually move the ball forward," Obama said at the White House.
"I think they should understand ... that the window for solving this issue diplomatically is shrinking."
"We will do everything we can to resolve this diplomatically but ultimately we've got to have somebody on the other side of the table who is taking this seriously and I hope that the Iranian regime understands that," he said.
Obama also predicted at a joint news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron that a punishing new set of sanctions on Iran would "begin to bite even harder this summer" and would further hurt Tehran's economy.
Both Obama and Britain have signaled that they do not believe that the time is right for military action against Iran's nuclear program yet, amid fierce speculation about the possibility of an Israeli strike in the next few months.
In a letter to EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton earlier Wednesday, Iran made a formal request for a date and venue to be fixed for talks with the P5+1 group of world powers, comprising the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.
It said it was interested in talks "without preconditions and with the goal of having long-term cooperation."
In the past, Iran has refused to discuss its nuclear program at the talks, leading to skepticism among western leaders that this round of talks will be any more significant.
Iran denies its nuclear program is designed to manufacture weapons.
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