IRAN PUT ON NOTICE - AT 5:37 P.M. ET:  There is a crunch coming with Iran.  President Obama has said that Iran must respond positively to Western overtures over its nuclear program by mid-September, or face the possibility of greater sanctions.  Problem is, Obama is widely seen as weak.

Now, however, the sanctions threat is being given more substance by the leaders of France and Germany:

BERLIN (AP) -- Germany and France on Monday reinforced a call for Iran to respond to concerns about its nuclear program in September or face tougher sanctions, and said they wanted wide international agreement on those measures.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel pointed to a Group of Eight leaders' agreement in July to reevaluate their position on Iran at a G-20 summit in late September. President Barack Obama has set a Sept. 15 deadline for Iran to respond to U.S. overtures about negotiating over its nuclear program.

''Initiatives must be taken during the month of September which take account of Iran's will or otherwise to cooperate,'' French President Nicolas Sarkozy said after meeting Merkel. If it does not, he said, ''Germany and France will be united in calling for a strengthening of sanctions.''

COMMENT:  Okay, nice words, well put.  But sanctions will require the cooperation of Russia and China, and that's very much in doubt.  Add to that a new, left-wing Japanese government eager to show how it can distance itself from the United States.  And, add to that, an American president who is seriously adrift and is obsessed with some abstract "outreach" to the Muslim world that is going nowhere.

So, the sanctions threat still has plenty of leaks.  This will be a major issue within a month.  Stand by, and observe how Obama handles it, or if he even chooses to do much at all.

August 31, 2009