President Obama on the phone in his private study. Photo: wiki commons.

Huffington Post/AP – Seeking to ratchet up pressure on Iran, President Barack Obama on Tuesday ordered new sanctions on Iran’s energy sector and on foreign banks in China and Iraq that the U.S. says help the Islamic republic evade international penalties.

The election year sanctions come as Obama combats criticism from Republican rival Mitt Romney, who says the president hasn’t acted strongly enough to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Romney is returning from an overseas trip that included Israel, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also expressed doubts about the effectiveness of U.S. sanctions.

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