Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney says it’s time for the U.S. to tighten sanctions against Iran. On Sunday, Iran’s president said western foes are "racing to hell" by demanding that Iran halt its nuclear activities. During a weekend appearance in Cherokee, Romney was asked what he would do as president to deal with Iran.
"Number one: tighten the sanctions hard so that the people in Iran understand just what renegades their leaders seem like on the world stage," Romney replied. Romney suggested economic sanctions which have limited Iran’s access to credit outside their country should be tightened "a lot."
"And I want to get nations like Saudi Arabia to work with the Chinese that need Saudi’s oil to say ‘we’re going to tighten sanctions from China,’" Romney said. "We’re going to get other nations to do exactly that."
Romney has some suggestions for new diplomatic sanctions as well. "I want to indict Ahmadinejad. I want to indict him for incitation to genocide…to communicate, again, to their people how far off the mark they are," Romney said.
According to Romney, some sources indicate there are as many as 75,000 bloggers in Iran and he wants to "communicate directly to them" that becoming a nuclear power is not a "source of pride" but of "peril."
"If they develop nuclear material and that material ever finds its way into the hands of terrorists…and it’s used, we will not just respond to the terrorists, we’ll respond to the nation that gave the material to the terrorists," Romney said. "…I hope that that will convince them that they need to pull back their nuclear ambition."
Romney said Iran must also realize the nations of the world would come together in a "united way" if Iran develops nuclear capabilities, and the "military option" would "be in our hand" according to Romney.