KAPOLEI, Hawaii — Defending his efforts to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions, President Barack Obama said Sunday that economic sanctions against Iran have had “enormous bite” and that he will consult with other nations on additional steps to ensure that Iran does not acquire an atomic weapon.
Obama expressed confidence that Russia and China in particular understand the threat that a nuclear-armed Iran would pose and said their leaders agree that Iran cannot weaponize its nuclear power and trigger a nuclear arms race in the region.
The president, answering questions at a news conference during an Asia- Pacific economic summit, did not specifically say he would consider military action if Iran were to persist in arming itself with a nuclear weapon. But he added: “We are not taking any options off the table. Iran with nuclear weapons would pose a threat not only to the region but also to the United States.”
Obama declined to directly respond to criticism of his Iran policy from Republican presidential candidates Saturday, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s declaration that Obama’s re-election would mean a nuclear-armed Iran. But he took a swipe at his foes anyway.
“Now is this an easy issue?” he asked. “No, anyone who claims it is, is either politicking or doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”
He also rejected assertions from GOP candidates such as Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann that they would be willing to use the interrogation practice known as waterboarding, a simulated form of drowning, on terrorism suspects.
“Let me just say this: They’re wrong,” Obama said emphatically. “Waterboarding is torture. It’s contrary to America’s traditions; it’s contrary to our ideals; that’s not who we are; that’s not how we operate. We don’t need it . . . and we did the right thing by ending that practice.”
At the economic summit, a plan to forge a Pacific free-trade zone got a big boost Sunday when leaders of Canada and Mexico joined Japan in expressing support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
In their summit declaration, leaders of the 21-member APEC said the region is the vanguard for global growth due to previous progress in forging closer economic ties and free trade.
But China, which some economists say is on course to overtake the U.S. as the world’s biggest economy this decade, has appeared reluctant to endorse the Pacific trade pact, likely wary of being drawn into what has become a U.S.-led initiative that encroaches on its own sphere of influence in Asia. China also has commitments to rival free-trade blocs in East and Southeast Asia.
The TPP group now includes only four smaller, relatively affluent economies — Chile, New Zealand, Brunei and Singapore — but the U.S., Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Peru are negotiating to join.
U.S. officials have said all are welcome to come on board, while indicating that the agreement’s high standards would pose a challenge to countries whose economies are not fully open. That would likely include Russia, which is close to gaining long- sought membership in the World Trade Organization, and China, which has staked out large sections of its economy for protection from foreign competition.
