Australian officials announced yesterday that the country will expand its sanctions against Iran, which are targeted at encouraging Tehran to increase transparency around its atomic program. Canberra imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Iran in 2008, and Foreign Minister Bob Carr linked the new restrictions to ongoing Iranian noncompliance wth U.N. Security Council resolutions. Talks between Iran and the international community were slated to start in January but have yet to come together. U.S. officials have accused Iran of stalling on setting a date in order to provide the regime with more time to advance its nuclear program.

[Photo: Jamal Nazareth / Wiki Commons]