President Obama is vowing to seek new international sanctions on Iran over U.S. allegations the Iranian government plotted to carry out an attack inside the United States. Two alleged operatives were indicted this week on charges they sought to hire a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate the Saudi ambassador. In his first public comments on the charges, Obama pledged to further isolate Iran.

President Obama: “What we’re going to continue to do is to apply the toughest sanctions and continue to mobilize the international community to make sure that Iran is further and further isolated and that it pays a price for this kind of behavior. Now, we don’t take any options off the table in terms of how we operate with Iran, but what you can expect is that we will continue to apply the sorts of pressure that will have a direct impact on the Iranian government, until it makes a better choice in terms of how it’s going to interact with the rest of the international community.”

The Obama administration has insisted the plot is legitimate, despite widespread doubts. Those involved were easily detectable, and U.S. investigators thought it to be so outlandish, they doubted Iranian involvement from the beginning of their probe. Speaking before the Senate Banking Committee, David Cohen, the Treasury Under-Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said U.S. sanctions could include new measures against Iran’s Central Bank.

David Cohen: “All options to increase the financial pressure on Iran are on the table, including the possibility of imposing additional sanctions against the CBI. If Iran continues to choose its path of defiance, we will continue to develop new and innovative ways to impose additional costs on Iran.”