Obama hopes for UN sanctions against Iran within weeks

President Barack Obama said Tuesday he hopes to move forward with sanctions against Iran in a matter of weeks, not months.

The president, during an availability with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy,  said that he was trying to build support for United Nations (UN) sanctions against Iran sometime this spring.

"My hope is that we will get this done this spring," Obama said. "I'm not interested in waiting months for a sanctions regime to be in place. I'm interested in seeing that regime in weeks."

The U.S. has been leading a push for sanctions against Iran for its continued work on nuclear enrichment, a possible precursor to building nuclear weapons. Members of the UN Security Council have signed onto sanctions, but the council has had difficulty in winning over Russia and China, both of whom have veto power, to support such a resolution.

Obama acknowledged that outstanding issues among members of the security council still were outstanding.

"In the interim, we are going to move forcefully for a UN sanctions regime," he said. "Now, do we have unanimity in the international community on sanctions? Not yet."