Speaking Tuesday, President Barack Obama said that the U.S. did not approve of Iran's addition to refine uranium to purer levels, and that the west was developing a "significant regime of sanctions," to be implemented against Tehran within weeks. Speaking to reporters, Obama said he was sure that other countries would support further sanctions, because the world is "unified around Iran's misbehavior in this area."

Earlier, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview that "I think it's going to take some period of time - I would say weeks, not months - to see if we can't get another UN Security Council resolution."