AFP.com

US presidential hopeful Barack Obama said on Wednesday that a nuclear Iran would pose a “grave threat” and that the world must prevent it from obtaining the atomic bomb.

“A nuclear Iran would pose a grave threat and the world must prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” Obama said.

“A nuclear Iran would be a game-changing situation, not just in the Middle East but around the world,” Obama said on the latest leg of talks in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Obama spoke of a series of “big sticks and big carrots” regarding the the Iranian regime and repeated his openness to meeting with its representatives, if the conditions were appropriate.

“I would at my time and choosing be willing to meet with any leader if I thought it would promote the national security interest of the United States of America,” he said.

Obama was speaking in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, which has long been a target of rocket and mortar fire from Palestinians in the neighbouring Gaza Strip.