U.S.Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama: World must 'seriously' press Iran before Israel strikes

    U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said on Monday the world must pressure Iran in a "serious way" over its nuclear program before Israel feels compelled to deal with situation on its own. "My job as president would be to try to make sure that we are tightening the screws diplomatically on Iran, that we've mobilized the world community to go after Iran's program in a serious way, to get sanctions in place so that Iran starts making a difficult calculation," Obama said in response to a voter question at a campaign event in Iowa. "We've got to do that before Israel feels like its back is to the wall," he said. "We've got to do that before Israel feels like its back is to the wall," he said. During Obama's visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority last month he stressed the importance that he attributed to diplomatic pressure when it came to preventing Tehran from achieving nuclear weapons. (22,57)