Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama on Wednesday urged "aggressive diplomacy" as well as economic sanctions to get Iran to change its actions after Tehran's missile test. Iran earlier Wednesday test-fired a missile it said is capable of reaching Israel, angering the United States amid growing fears that the standoff over the contested Iranian nuclear programme could lead to military conflict. The Shahab-3 was among a broadside of nine missiles fired off simultaneously at 8:00 a.m. (0330 GMT) from an undisclosed location in the Iranian desert, state television pictures showed.
"There's no doubt we're seeing rising tensions in the area. And it's part of the reason why it's so important for us to have a coherent policy with respect to Iran," Obama told CNN television.
Iran "must suffer threats of economic sanctions with direct diplomacy opening up channels of communication so we avoid provocation, but we give strong incentives for the Iranians to change their behavior," he said.
And "we have to have a kind of aggressive diplomacy which unfortunately has been absent over the last several years. If we don't, we're going to continue to see rising tensions that could lead to real problems," Obama added.
The Democratic Party's White House hopeful added that it was time for the US role to return to center stage with Iran.
"Part of the problem that we've got right now is that we've been basically farming out the diplomatic activity to the Europeans. We've got to be actively engaged," Obama said.
"I've called for, for example, here in the United States, the application of potential divestment of Iranian companies. We found out that in the (George W.) Bush years, US exports to Iran have increased."
"That's a mistake," Obama said. "That sends mixed messages to them."