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Q Iran said it's going to start work on a new uranium enrichment plant and we're looking for any response. And do you think it will help gain support for sanctions?

MR. GIBBS: Well, let me take that one first. Look, I would point you -- well, first and foremost, obviously Iran continues to fail to live up to the important obligations that -- obligations that they signed years ago.

I would point out, though, that as is often the case, the rhetoric of Iran and their nuclear program does not always meet the reality of what they're capable of. And to that end, I would point you to the IAEA saying -- IAEA report that demonstrates the trouble that they've had over the course of the past year in, again, matching what they say and what they do.

Q So what you're saying is that they might be saying this about a reactor, but we don't really know?

MR. GIBBS: Again, I think the -- I think Iran routinely puts out -- makes pronouncements and statements about a whole host of their programs that may or may not actually meet the facts of, again, what they're capable of doing.

That's not to say we don't take the fact that they're not living up to their obligations seriously. That's why the President has taken the steps he's taken to put together an international coalition to address that.

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Q I've got a follow-up on Iran. The deadline -- we're into the middle of April. The deadline to Iran seems to be stretching out quite a lot. Can you give us an idea, where do we stand --

MR. GIBBS: Well, I wouldn't -- as the President discussed with President Sarkozy at the White House just a couple of weeks ago, we are at the United Nations right now and we expect to have sanctions that the U.N. Security Council will pass in place by spring.

Q "By spring," meaning this month or May?

MR. GIBBS: Well, I'm not a good person to tell you when spring ends or when it begins, but I would say in the next several weeks.

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