US expects India to act against Iran: official

Washington: The US says it expects India to enforce UN sanctions against Iran. However, the US is not too sure as to how will India convince the Persian Gulf state to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The Obama Administration also said Iran's controversial atomic programme cannot be a situation of business since this nuclear arms race will have its implications outside the Middle East including India.

US State Department spokesman Philip J Crowley said, "From our standpoint and what we have made clear in our conversations with many countries, is that this (Iran pursuing the path of nuclear weapons programme) cannot be a situation of business as usual."This is about the future of the world. This is about the danger of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, which will affect countries outside the region, including India. So everyone has a responsibility to do what each country can to convince Iran to change its present course.

When asked about the India-Iran Joint Commission in New Delhi last week, he stated, "I'll leave it to India to describe what steps it is going to take."

To a query on India’s Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao’s comment that “unilateral sanctions” can have “a direct and adverse impact” on India’s energy security, Crowley said he is not familiar with those particular comments.

But Crowley said, "Every country obviously pursues its own self-interest of its citizens. We understand that. By the same token, all countries have international obligations to fully respect and to heed the sanctions that were passed by the Security Council last month."

He further said, "We are taking our own steps to fully implement those sanctions and to take additional steps within our own laws. And we would expect all countries to respect and commit themselves to undertake and to enforce the sanctions that have been passed by the UN Security Council."

Crowley said "We have ongoing concerns about the nature of Iran's nuclear programme. There are many questions that have gone unanswered. "You even have today concerns expressed by Russian

President Dmitry Medvedev, which we share, about Iran continuing to move closer to having a breakout nuclear capability.

He said it is up to Iran to come forward and engage in the International Atomic Energy Agency and hence participate in the international community constructively. However, Iran has failed in that regard so far, he added.