Reacting to Iran's testing yesterday of missiles that could reach wide areas of the Middle East, Arizona Sen. John McCain called for tough sanctions against the Tehran regime.

"I am convinced that our European allies and friends are ready to impose significant, impactful and meaningful sanctions on the Iranians -- especially financial, and including trade and international financial systems -- and that those sanctions can be effective in modifying Iranian behavior," the Republican presidential candidate said during a brief news conference in South Park after touring a Consol Energy Inc. research facility.

Noting that the tests had been conducted by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, Mr. McCain criticized his Democratic presidential rival for not taking a tough line against them. "This is the same organization that I voted to condemn as a terrorist organization when an amendment was on the floor of the United States Senate," he said. "Sen. [Barack] Obama refused to vote. He called it provocative, a provocative step. The fact is this is a terrorist organization, and it should have been branded as such."

An analysis of Mr. McCain's similar prior criticisms of his foe by the nonpartisan group Factcheck.org found that, while Mr. Obama had opposed one measure that would have applied the terrorist designation to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, he had supported separate legislation condemning the group.

Earlier yesterday, the Illinois Democrat released a statement similarly condemning the missile test. While also calling for a tough line, he called the development a failure of diplomacy.

"Now is the time to work with our friends and allies and to pursue direct and aggressive diplomacy with the Iranian regime backed by tougher unilateral and multilateral sanctions," the Obama campaign statement said. "It's time to offer the Iranians a clear choice between increased costs for continuing their troubling behavior and concrete incentives that would come if they change course."

Mr. McCain dismissed the notion that new diplomatic steps were the appropriate response to the tests. "We have urged the Iranians under many different circumstances, including many different packages of incentives by our European allies. ... Their behavior has obviously not changed. ... The time has now come for effective sanctions on Iran, which ... I believe can have a modifying effect on their very aggressive behavior."

Mr. McCain was at the Consol site highlighting clean-coal technology, as part of a campaign week in which he has attempted to emphasize energy issues.

Joined by his wife, Cindy, he started the visit with a roundtable discussion with coal and energy company executives, during which he underscored his promise to devote $2 billion annually to clean-coal research, an area where both presidential contenders have promised to increase federal support.

Mr. McCain has supported one version of the so-called cap-and-trade concept whereby polluters would, in effect, bid for the right to emit greenhouse gases above specified limits. The industry officials cautioned against adopting such a system in a way that places U.S. firms at a competitive disadvantage.

At the end of the half-hour session, Mr. McCain said he wanted to come back for more.

"What I'd like to do, if it's possible, is schedule another meeting. I'm going to be back in Pennsylvania -- for a lot of reasons," he said. "We need to talk more about this. I'll have a town hall meeting in Ohio, and the first question asked will be about ... the price of oil. It used to be health care six months ago. So we need to talk more; I need to learn more."