SPY EYES

President Barack Obama canvassed the leaders of sceptical Russia and China after calling for new sanctions and isolation for Iran over revelations about its nuclear programme.

Obama met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao on a day of high-level diplomacy on the eve of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in his home state of Hawaii.

Washington reacted to the release of an International Atomic Energy Agency report Tuesday citing “credible” evidence that Iran had worked towards nuclear weapons, with a call for more steps to isolate Tehran.

But Russia and China, which could block a stiffening of international sanctions as permanent members of the UN Security Council, responded coolly to the outrage expressed by the United States and its allies.

Obama said he and Russian President Medvedev discussed Afghanistan, Iran and Syria, among other topics, in their meeting on Saturday.

Obama said after talks with Medvedev that the two sides had “reaffirmed our intention to work to shape a common response so we can move Iran to follow its international obligations when it comes to its nuclear programme.”

Obama gave no details about the discussion on Syria. On Afghanistan, he said they discussed the importance of regional powers supporting the government in Kabul.

In the meeting, Medvedev said there was a large gap between Washington and Moscow’s positions on US plans for a missile defence system based in Europe.

“We have agreed to continue the search of possible solutions, with the understanding of the fact that our positions still remain far apart,” Medvedev told reporters.

Obama also spoke publicly about Iran at a photo-op before his meeting with Hu, but he was even less specific, calling for “efforts to jointly ensure that countries like Iran are abiding by international rules and norms.”

“Both Russia and China said that they do not want to see the spread of nuclear weapons to Iran or frankly to any new state,” said Ben Rhodes, a US deputy national security advisor.

“They remain committed to diplomatic efforts to tell Iran to live up to its obligations.”

In the meeting, Obama also told Hu that Americans were “frustrated” and “impatient” at the pace of change in Beijing’s economic policy.

The president’s direct language betrayed increasing US concern over the level of China’s yuan currency, which critics say is kept artificially low to boost exports, and Beijing’s observance of intellectual property standards.

The meeting took place amid rising domestic political pressure on Obama over China’s trade record, voiced again by Republican candidates in a campaign debate on Saturday as the 2012 presidential election campaign gathers pace.

But Hu retorted that a big rise in the yuan would not help the United States, adding the US trade deficit and unemployment were not caused by his country’s exchange rate policy, which he qualified as “responsible.”

“Even if the yuan rises substantially, it will not solve problems faced by the United States,” he told Obama, according to comments posted on China’s foreign ministry website.

In a public appearance before their talks in a Honolulu hotel, Obama and Hu did not stray far from diplomatic niceties, but economic tensions came up in private.

Obama “made it very clear that the American people and the American business community were growing increasingly impatient and frustrated with the state of change in China economic policy and the evolution of the US-China economic relationship,” said Michael Froman, a US deputy national security advisor.

Obama said before the talks he wanted to discuss “efforts to jointly ensure that countries like Iran are abiding by international rules and norms” and said North Korea’s nuclear programme and non-proliferation would also come up.

“We are both Pacific powers and I think many countries in the region look to a constructive relationship between the United States and China as the basis for continued growth and prosperity,” Obama said.

Hu, in a nod to fraught economic times that have spooked global markets, said the world was undergoing “complex and profound changes.”

“There is growing instability and uncertainty in the world economic recovery. Under these circumstances, it is all the more important that the US and China increase their communication and cooperation.”

Earlier at a meeting with CEOs, Obama was more frank over US differences with China, singling out China’s record on intellectual property protection amid complaints from US corporations that their innovation and products are being unfairly compromised and copied.