US President Barack Obama secured a pledge from world leaders Tuesday to take concerted action to prevent nuclear terrorism, as he pressed for further support to tighten sanctions on Iran. The final communique to be issued at a 47-nation nuclear summit promised greater efforts to block “non-state actors” like Al-Qaeda from obtaining the building blocks for atomic weapons for “malicious purposes.” The unprecedented conference unfolded against a backdrop of US pressure to isolate Iran over its nuclear program. German Chancellor Angela Merkel sounded an optimistic note on getting China and Russia behind a new UN sanctions resolution. Addressing the summit's opening session, Obama warned that if Al-Qaeda acquired enough loose nuclear material for an atomic weapon it would be a “catastrophe for the world.” “Two decades after the end of the Cold War, we face a cruel irony of history – the risk of a nuclear confrontation between nations has gone down, but the risk of a nuclear attack has gone up,” Obama said. “So today is an opportunity not simply to talk, but to act. Not simply to make pledges, but to make real progress for the security of our people,” he told the assembled heads of state and government. The communique, obtained by Reuters, called for new controls on plutonium and highly enriched uranium and separated plutonium, key components of nuclear weapons, and a crackdown on nuclear smuggling. But, in a nod to some developing countries, the summit agreed security steps would not infringe on rights to peaceful nuclear energy. The commitments were non-binding and it was unclear how they would be enforced. US officials sought to focus the summit narrowly on nuclear security but on the sidelines of the two-day gathering, Obama and his aides conducted an intensive campaign to ratchet up international pressure on Iran. Obama secured a crucial pledge from Chinese President Hu Jintao Monday to help craft a new UN sanctions package against Iran, US officials said, but China gave no specific commitment to back tough punitive measures Washington wants. And Beijing stressed Tuesday it wanted any Security Council resolution to promote a diplomatic way out of the nuclear standoff. Iran, which is not attending the conference, is China's third-largest crude oil supplier. Signaling no let-up in the US push, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met representatives of the permanent five Security Council members and Germany Monday night on Iran. The summit produced several tangible dividends. Washington and Moscow signed a deal to reduce stocks of excess weapons-grade plutonium. The US, Canada and Mexico agreed to work together with the International Atomic Energy Agency to convert Mexico's research reactor from the use of highly enriched uranium to low
