Obama says wants sanctions on Iran in weeks

WASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he would like to see new U.N. sanctions placed on Iran in a matter of weeks as he and French President Nicolas Sarkozy presented a united front on Tehran.

"My hope is that we are going to get this done this spring," Obama told a joint news conference with Sarkozy. "I'm interested in seeing that regime in place in weeks."

Sarkozy said "the time has come to take decisions" on Iran and that with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, "we will make all necessary efforts to make sure that Europe as a whole engages in the sanctions regime."

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Steve Holland)