Major powers stand behind U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding Iran suspend all nuclear fuel work in exchange for negotiations on trade incentives, with the threat of escalating sanctions if Tehran keeps refusing.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Iran must decide if it wants to cooperate with the international community or face new sanctions. "I for my part think one should not hesitate to toughen the sanctions," Sarkozy told the German monthly Cicero.
The United States underlined impatience with Tehran by dispatching nine U.S. warships carrying 17,000 personnel into the Gulf, a narrow channel in international waters off Iran's coast and a major artery for global oil shipments.
Oil climbed towards $70 on world markets, partly on news of the force's arrival.
The U.S. navy said the ships, including two aircraft carriers, would conduct exercises as part of a long-planned effort to reassure regional Arab allies of U.S. commitment to Gulf security. Naval officials described it as the largest daytime assembly of ships since the 2003 Iraq war.
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