U.S. President Barack Obama says countries that have commercial dealings with Iran, including South Korea, decided to impose sanctions on Iran at great cost to themselves.

Obama made the statement in an interview with BBC on Friday.

He said the reason such countries, which also include Japan, China and Russia, are slapping sanctions on Iran is not simply because the U.S. is pressuring them but because they too see a threat of destabilization if there is an Iranian regime pursuing nuclear weapons, and potentially creating an arms race in the region that could be dangerous for everybody.

Obama also reiterated that the United States is not operating unilaterally in imposing sanctions on Iran.
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