Obama: Dialogue is necessary to prevent nuclear proliferation

U.S. President Barack Obama said Wednesday that dialogue with Iran and North Korea would be a top priority in efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation.

"It's very important for the world community to speak to countries like Iran and North Korea and encourage them to take a path that does not result in a nuclear arms race in places like the Middle East," Obama said.

Obama was speaking in the Italian city of L'Aquila, where he joined fellow world leaders for talks on threats to global security and stability at the G8 summit where climate change, the global economic crisis, nuclear proliferation and world hunger took top billing.

Obama's comments came a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that Washington would call for more sanctions against Iran if the White House policy of engagement with Tehran failed.

Clinton said U.S. outreach to Iran may not work given the country's recent repression of protests after a disputed election.

"It may not be possible, in which case we would ask the world to join us in imposing even stricter sanctions on Iran to try to change the behavior of the regime," Clinton said in an interview with Venezuelan television station Globovision, broadcast late on Tuesday.

"We have seen in the last weeks that Iran has not respected its own democracy," she said.

In May, Clinton said more multilateral sanctions could be a way to curb the nuclear ambitions of Iran, which the United States says is seeking to develop a nuclear weapon.

The U.S. president and the leaders of seven other industrialized nations had meetings in the picturesque town of L'Aquila, northeast of Rome for G-8 talks, before they were to widen their circle to include fast-growing countries like China and India and struggling nations from Africa.

Obama, accompanied by his wife Michelle, met Italian President Giorgio Napolitano after arriving at the stately Quirinale Palace in Rome, a spectacular setting that included a large room with a soaring ceiling, gilded walls and doors and huge chandaliers.

After that meeting, Obama said he was looking forward to the G-8 talks and said the U.S. and Italy were working hand in hand in places like Afghanistan "to ensure that we're isolating extremists and strengthening the forces of moderation around the world."

Obama also said he and Napolitano agreed that efforts must continue on raising standards on financial institutions to protect against future global economic meltdowns.

He added that it is crucial that world leaders work to ensure that Iran and North Korea don't take a path that would widen the arms race on the Korean peninsula and in the Mideast.

Security is heavy in L'Aquila, which was ravaged by an earthquake on April 6. Officials have prepared emergency airlifts of the world leaders in case another strong tremor hits.

The summit involves an ever-growing numbers of nations beyond the G8, whose members are the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and Japan. Various meetings will include representatives of Egypt, Turkey, Mexico and several other nations.