President Obama moved forward today with new sanctions against Iran's oil exports, signing a report that says there are enough oil reserves in the rest of the world to compensate.

"There currently appears to be sufficient supply of non-Iranian oil to permit foreign countries to significantly reduce their import of Iranian oil," said a White House statement.

The statement cited "current estimates of demand, increased production by some countries, private inventories of crude oil and petroleum products, and available strategic petroleum reserves."

Obama has not yet decided whether to tap the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but has discussed the potential of such a step with Great Britain and France, the White House said.

The White House also noted that, "in fact, many purchasers of Iranian crude oil have already reduced their purchases or announced they are in productive discussions with alternative suppliers."

The U.S. and allies hope that tighter sanctions will force Iran to forgo the means to make nuclear weapons -- and are seeking to persuade Israel not to launch a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Iran says its nuclear energy program is peaceful in intent, and has accused the U.S. and Israel of seeking to topple its Islamic government.

The full White House statement: