New US sanctions on Iran Thursday sent shockwaves through the 2008 White House race, in which Tehran's behavior is fanning foreign policy rows among saber-rattling Republicans and war-wary Democrats.
After 18 months in which the Bush administration has touted the virtues of collective action against Iran, the new sanctions mark a major turn toward unilateralism.
Presidential contender John Edwards criticized Democratic and Republican rivals alike Thursday for threats and a vote against Iran, accusing Hillary Rodham Clinton of helping a GOP march to war.
Republican candidates talk of military action if Iran gets close to building a nuclear weapon while Democrats caution against a march to another war.
The Bush administration sought to ratchet up the pressure on Iran Thursday by slapping economic sanctions on the regime's banks and Revolutionary Guard.
WASHINGTON -- Economic sanctions in place for decades haven't stopped Iran from pursuing nuclear ambitions the Bush administration says are a cover for a nuclear bomb or, if administration allegations are true, from funding terrorism across the Middle East.
GENEVA -- Britain applauded a U.S. decision Thursday to target Iran with banking sanctions, but many European financial institutions already curbed ties with Tehran and analysts said it wasn't clear whether others would rush to take similar steps.
WASHINGTON— For more than two years, the United States has insisted that the key to stopping Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program is maintaining unified international pressure on the Islamic Republic.
When it comes to presidential politics, Iran appears to the next Iraq.
The United States slapped new sanctions on Iran and accused its Revolutionary Guard of spreading weapons of mass destruction on Thursday but Russian President Vladimir Putin said such moves only forced Tehran into a corner over its nuclear program.