A senior U.S. official is pushing South Korea to join U.S.-led punishment of Iran over its nuclear program, the Daily Washington Post reported.
State Department special adviser Robert Einhorn told reporters in Seoul on Monday that Washington wants countries that buy Iranian petrochemicals to stop doing so to pressure Tehran to end what he called nuclear defiance.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry says the country buys such petrochemicals.
Einhorn said Washington wants its friends around the world to send a strong message to Iran and is looking for ally South Korea to join that campaign.
Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. But a recent U.N. nuclear agency report suggests it is working toward development of atomic weapons.
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