The head of Iran’s atomic energy organization said yesterday that the major powers would “discredit” themselves if they went ahead with a push for new UN sanctions despite a surprise deal inked with Brazil and Turkey, the Fars news agency reported.
“[Talk of] imposing sanctions has faded and this [UN Security Council draft] resolution is the last effort by the West,” the news agency quoted Iranian Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who also heads Iran’s atomic energy organization, as saying.
“They feel that for the first time in the world developing countries are able to defend their rights in the world arena without resorting to the major powers and that is very hard for them,” he said after a meeting of government ministers.
The comments came after the US and its Western allies won crucial support from Russia and China for new sanctions against Iran over its suspect nuclear program.
The draft resolution, obtained Tuesday by reporters, would ban Iran from pursuing “any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons,” freeze assets of nuclear-related companies linked to the Revolutionary Guard, bar Iranian investment in activities such as uranium mining, and prohibit Iran from buying several categories of heavy weapons including attack helicopters and missiles.
It would also call on all countries to cooperate in cargo inspections — which must receive the consent of the ship’s flag state — if there are “reasonable grounds” to believe these activities could contribute to Iranian nuclear activities.
On the financial side, the draft calls on — but does not require — countries to block financial transactions, including insurance and reinsurance, and ban the licensing of Iranian banks if they have information that provides “reasonable grounds” to believe these activities could contribute to Iranian nuclear activities.
The agreement appeared to be a significant victory for US President Barack Obama’s administration, which has doggedly pursued sanctions since Iran rebuffed US overtures last year. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Russia and China, which have close ties to Iran and could veto any resolution, joined fellow permanent council members Britain, France and the US as well as non-member Germany in supporting the sanctions proposal.
Both Russia and China resisted sanctions before they were persuaded to support the stepped up pressure on Iran in recent weeks. Proposed sanctions relating to Iran’s oil and gas industry were removed due to opposition from the two countries, which have vast investments and interests in Iran’s energy sector.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the final draft is acceptable because it is “focused adequately on nonproliferation matters” and doesn’t cause “humanitarian damage” or create problems for normal economic activities in Iran and the country’s economic relations with other countries.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a Senate committee that she spent Tuesday on the phone with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov “finalizing the resolution.” The Russian foreign ministry said Lavrov “expressed anxiety” in his talk with Clinton about reports that the US and EU might undertake unilateral sanctions against Iran beyond measures agreed to by the Security Council.
At least three of the 10 non-permanent Security Council members — Brazil, Turkey and Lebanon — have expressed opposition to new sanctions.
The US introduced the draft sanctions resolution at a closed council meeting Tuesday but Brazil announced afterwards that that it won’t even discuss it “at this point” because it wants to focus on the nuclear swap agreement that Iran signed Monday with Brazil and Turkey.
The deal would take 1,200kg of low-enriched uranium out of Iran for a year and return higher-enriched uranium for a medical research reactor in Tehran.
That’s the same amount as under a tentative October agreement negotiated by the US, Russia, France and Iran and endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency last year.
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