White House: 'Tight coalition' on Iran

The United States is working with a "much tighter international coalition" in its effort to thwart Iran's nuclear program, a White House spokesman said Tuesday. Josh Earnest, the deputy press secretary, was asked during a meeting with reporters on Air Force One why President Barack Obama is talking about "red lines" with Syria on chemical weapons and not with Iran on nuclear arms. "In terms of Iran, the situation is a little bit different. There is a much tighter international coalition that's in place to confront the threat that's posed by the Iranian regime's nuclear ambitions," Earnest said. "The United States has worked in a multilateral fashion with our allies, with other countries in the region to put in crippling sanctions. The Iranian regime has complained publicly about the significant impact that those sanctions are having on the local economy."