Iran faces consequences over nuclear programme: Obama

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WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters): President Barack Obama said his focus on nuclear disarmament had strengthened US diplomacy in dealing with North Korea and Iran, and he warned Tehran faced "growing consequences" over its nuclear program.
In his State of the Union address to Congress on Wednesday, Obama touched on some of the thorniest foreign policy issues he has faced in the past year, including his effort to develop a new approach toward Iran and North Korea as they expand their nuclear programs.
Obama, whose new initiative to curb nuclear weapons helped earn him the Nobel Peace Prize, said he was working with Russia to complete a major nuclear arms reduction treaty.
The two sides failed to reach an agreement on a replacement for the strategic arms reduction treaty, START, before it expired in early December. But they agreed to extend the protections of the treaty as they continue negotiations, which are due to resume on Monday in Geneva.
"To reduce our stockpiles and launchers, while ensuring our deterrent, the United States and Russia are completing negotiations on the farthest-reaching arms control treaty in nearly two decades," Obama told Congress.
"And at April's Nuclear Security Summit, we will bring 44 nations together behind a clear goal: securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world in four years so that they never fall into the hands of terrorists."
Obama said his focus on an international approach to reducing nuclear arms and preventing proliferation had "strengthened our hand in dealing with those nations that insist on violating international agreements in pursuit of these weapons."