US President Barack Obama stated Friday world leaders were "appalled" at post-election violence in Iran and would not stand idly by while the country builds a nuclear arsenal. Welcoming a rare consensus on Iran among the globe's most powerful nations at the G8 summit, the U.S. leader conveyed he hoped the Islamic Republic would recognize that "world opinion is very clear".
The G8 joint declaration voiced "serious concern" over the violence in the streets following the June 12 election. "And that's been always our premise, is that we provide that door," said Obama, according to the AP. "But we also say we're not going to just wait indefinitely and allow for the development of the nuclear weapon, the breach of international treaties, and wake up one day and find ourselves in a much worse situation and unable to act.
"So my hope is that the Iranian leadership will look at the statement coming out of the G8 and recognize that world opinion is clear."
