The U.S. says a “critical” report by the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency, due next week, should help the world to determine whether Iran is “meeting its obligations” on regulating its nuclear development program.

President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy discussed the matter in advance of the G20 (Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors) summit in Europe this week, the White House said in a statement Thursday.

“President Sarkozy and I agree on the need to maintain the unprecedented pressure [by the international community] on Iran to meet its obligations,” Obama told reporters in Cannes.

Israel, the U.S. and many other Western nations are convinced that Iran is engaged in developing a nuclear weapon of mass destruction that constitutes a threat to the entire world.

Of great concern is the fact that recently the Islamic Republic began to relocate its uranium enrichment facilities below ground, in bunkers that are apparently inaccessible to ordinary bombing attempts.

Although Tehran claims that its program is geared towards peaceful domestic energy production for medical purposes, it has enriched uranium to levels that can be used for weapons production, and are far beyond the quantities needed for simple medical needs.