Excerpts

MR. CARNEY: Thank you all for joining us this morning here in Williamsburg, Virginia. I have a brief statement to make at the top. I wanted to say that the United States welcomes the adoption today by the European Union of significant new sanctions against the Iranian government in response to the Iranian government's continued violation of its international obligations regarding its nuclear program.

This action, which includes additional sanctions in the financial, trade, energy and transport sectors, as well as additional designations on entities in the oil and gas industry, further strengthens international efforts to pressure and isolate the Iranian government for its continued refusal to comply with its international obligations and fully cooperate with the IAEA.

As you know, rallying the world to isolate Iran and increase the pressure on its leadership so that they stop pursuing a nuclear weapon has been a top priority for the President since the day he took office. Thanks to that leadership, Iran is under more pressure than ever before. The Iranian government is responsible for the state of Iran's economy and the isolation of the country. Iran's leaders have made conscious choices about how they manage their economy, how they prioritize their budget and how they respond to the concerns of their people. The regime has chosen to spend money to pursue nuclear activities in violation of its international obligations, to support Bashar al-Assad's brutal regime, to enable terrorist acts around the world, and to undertake destabilizing activities around the region.

Iran knows the kind of concrete steps we are looking for to bring it back into full compliance with its international nuclear obligations, to address the proposal tabled by the P5-plus-1, and to cooperate fully and transparently with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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