...

QUESTION: Although it is true that one would say that one could credit the sanctions with bringing Iran to the table, the sanctions for many, many years didn’t do what they were really intended to do, which was to get Iran to stop. Isn’t that correct?

MS. PSAKI: Well, but part of the goal of ramping them up over the last four years --

QUESTION: Fair enough.

MS. PSAKI: -- five years --

QUESTION: But all the punishment that the UN Security Council and that countries individually levied on the Iranians didn’t produce or didn’t get the Iranians to stop enriching --

MS. PSAKI: Well --

QUESTION: -- didn’t get them to stop their program.

MS. PSAKI: -- part of it, Matt, though – as you know, because we’ve talked about this many times – is also the fact that the president of Iran ran on a platform of improving the economic conditions. And the sanctions are a key part of that.