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Obama willing to hold direct talks with Iran By Reuters WASHINGTON - U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday he was prepared to offer Iran economic incentives to stop its nuclear program, but he also warned that sanctions could be toughened if it refused. "We are willing to talk to them directly and give them a clear choice and ultimately let them make a determination in terms of whether they want to do this the hard way or the easy way," Obama told NBC's "Meet the Press" program. Advertisement Dealing with Iran's uranium enrichment program, which some Western countries say is being used to develop a nuclear bomb, will be one of the first foreign policy tests for Obama after he takes office on January 20. Iran last month signaled it was expanding its nuclear enrichment program, a clear sign that it has no intention of bowing to Western pressure. Tehran says the program is purely for peaceful purposes to generate more electricity. Iran said last week it did not believe U.S. policy would change under Obama. Washington, which cut ties with Tehran after the 1979 revolution that ousted the U.S.-backed shah, has been pushing hard to isolate Iran over its nuclear program. "We need to ratchet up tough but direct diplomacy with Iran, making very clear to them that their development of nuclear weapons would be unacceptable, that their funding of terrorist organizations, their threats against Israel are contrary to everything we believe in," Obama said. He said his administration would work with international partners to present a set of carrots and sticks to encourage Iran to halt its nuclear development program. "In terms of carrots, we can provide economic incentives that would be helpful to a country that despite being a net oil producer is under enormous strain, huge inflation, lot of employment problems," Obama said, without specifying what form the incentives would take. "But we also have to focus on the sticks. In order for us to change Iran's behavior we may have to tighten up those sanctions." Iran's refusal to stop enriching uranium, which can provide fuel for nuclear power plants or material for bombs if refined to a higher degree, has drawn three rounds of UN sanctions since 2006 as well as separate U.S. measures. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Striking Iran Israel's push to strike Iran puts its relations with the US at risk. Wiring up Soon enough Israelis will pump their cars full of electricity instead of gasoline.

Read & React Zbigniew Brzezinski: Israel's push for Iran strike may hurt U.S. ties Responses: 194 Burston: Hebron, Feiglin, & self-hating Jews of the right Responses: 73 Defense official: Settler attacks could worsen tensions with Muslim world Responses: 114 Moshe Arens: Like Neville Chamberlain, Barak will realize mistake of Gaza truce Responses: 50 ANALYSIS / Israeli deterrence against Hamas is weakening Responses: 47 More Headlines 22:58 Netanyahu: Obama told me he views Iran nukes as unacceptable 02:06 Israel worried by report Iran has tripled its missile arsenal 02:09 Likud polls close after bumpy vote for Knesset candidates 22:13 Another gangland killing as underwold figure shot dead in Netanya 01:13 ANALYSIS / Iran sees Obama as worthy leader, but is that enough? 17:46 400 Tel Aviv parking spaces now wired to charge electric cars 22:55 Mismanagement threatens Israel's second most visited site 01:50 Suspected 9/11 mastermind, 4 co-defendants offer to confess 00:05 Olmert announces launch of pension fund safety net 20:39 Lebanese sources: Lebanon, Iran draw up framework for bilateral cooperation 02:25 Regulator warns: Israel cannot afford a bank collapse 15:51 Israeli envoy to UN: Obama must take care of U.S. before focusing on Mideast 22:04 Zbigniew Brzezinski: Israel's push for Iran strike may hurt U.S. ties 18:56 IDF soldier lightly hurt as tank overturns in Golan training accident 18:24 Police expose ring suspected of extorting thousands from Jerusalem beggars 17:16 India Jewish community leader: We are determined to rebuild Chabad house Previous Editions Select Day 08 dec 07 dec 05 dec 04 dec 03 dec 02 dec 01 dec 30 nov 28 nov 27 nov 26 nov 25 nov

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