Washington: Sending a "strong signal" to countries engaged in business dealings with Iran that they may face ramifications, the US has asked India and other emerging powers to play a key role in galvanising the global community for imposing sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear issue.
"We are expecting everyone, particularly, emerging powers to play a significant role in this (issue)," Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, P J Crowley, told reporters, when asked about the latest Indian move to resume talks with Iran for a multi-billion dollar gas pipeline project.
His comments came a day after Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Robert Blake warned all countries against engaging in transactions with Iran.
Pakistan and Iran have already inked an agreement on the gas pipeline project two weeks ago.
"We have a broad-based dialogue with both India and Pakistan. Part of the dialogue in each country is to understand and help, with the respective and legitimate energy needs that countries in the region have," Crowley said.
"But we are also sending a very strong signal to a range of countries; not just in South Asia, throughout the world, to those countries that have economic relations with Iran or to those sectors of the global economy that do business with Iran, understand where this process is going, and understand that ultimately ... there will be ramifications here in terms of how this proceeds," he said.
Noting that the US is in discussion with P5 + One (US, UK, Russia, France and China plus Germany) on the issue of additional sanction on Iran through the UN Security Council, Crowley said that Washington expects "depending on not only what's in that resolution but other steps that countries will take for going forward."
The international community as a whole has to be united behind this effort, and has to enforce whatever sanctions are put in place against Iran. "There are, you know, existing sanctions already in place," he said.
"We have expressed our concerns to a number of countries that have ongoing economic relations with Iran that now may not be the best time to pursue such (relationship)," Crowley said when asked if the US has taken up the issue specifically with India and Pakistan.
Observing that the US does not think in "zero-sum terms" while talking about developments in the region, he said it does recognise ultimately the growth of legitimate trade that more fully integrates countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan and others into a regional or global trading system.
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