AFP
Sunday, December 10, 2006
The debate over how to punish Iran for its refusal to suspend
sensitive nuclear fuel work resumes in New York Monday with Western
diplomats confident that the UN Security Council will approve
targeted sanctions against Tehran by Christmas.
Ambassadors of the Security Council's five permanent members --
Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany
are to meet informally Monday morning to consider a revised sanctions
draft resolution, which was circulated Friday to the full 15-member
Council, diplomats said.
Following inconclusive talks among senior officials of the six
powers in Paris last Tuesday, the sponsors slightly amended the
draft to try to make it more palatable to Russia and China. The
two countries have opposed previous proposals as too tough and
unlikely to persuade Tehran to comply with UN demands that it
halt all uranium enrichment activities.
The latest European text, a copy of which was obtained by AFP,
would mandate a ban on trade with Iran on goods related to its
nuclear and ballistic missile programs and impose financial and
travel restrictions on persons and entities involved.
Specifically targeted are "all items, materials, goods and
equipment which could contribute to Iran's enrichment-related,
reprocessing or heavy water related activities, or to the development
of nuclear weapon delivery systems."
Russia and China -- which have close economic and energy ties
with Iran -- have been trying to water down the European draft,
while the United States has sought to harden it.
Despite Russian objections, the new text includes a list of a
dozen Iranian officials directly involved in their country's nuclear
and ballistic programs who would be targeted for UN sanctions.
At Moscow's insistence, it however drops all references to Iran's
first nuclear power station, a one-billion-dollar facility which
Russia is helping to build in Bushehr.
Bushehr had been mentioned by name in previous drafts but had
been exempted from sanctions although there was some ambiguity
about delivery of nuclear fuel to the plant.
The draft does not include a US demand for an explicit characterization
of the Iranian nuclear program as "a threat to international
peace and security".
It states that Iran "shall without further delay suspend
proliferation sensitive nuclear activities, in particular all
enrichment-related reprocessing activities, including research
and development, and work on all heavy water related projects,
including the construction of a research reactor moderated by
heavy water."
The draft asks the head of the Vienna-based International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) to submit a report within 60 days on whether
Iran has fully complied with the demands.
It says implementation of the sanctions would be suspended if
Iran halts uranium enrichment but warns that failure to heed the
UN demands would lead to "further appropriate measures",
a reference to economic sanctions.
Monday's informal talks at ambassador level come less than a
week after political directors of foreign ministries of the six
nations failed in Paris to agree on the scope of the proposed
sanctions.
But in Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack
said Friday that the six had now narrowed their differences over
the terms of the draft.
"The sense is the differences are narrowing," he told
reporters after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed
the issue here Friday with Russian Security Council Secretary
Igor Ivanov.
But a diplomat close to the negotiations here said tough bargaining
lies ahead, notably to win over the Russians who are keen on maintaining
a dialogue with the Islamic Republic.
US and European officials however said they were hopeful that
an acceptable text would be agreed by Christmas.
"The goal is still unanimity (on a text) but not at any
price," a Western diplomat said.
Meanwhile Iran, which ignored an August 31 deadline to freeze
uranium enrichment, has said it will not give up its nuclear program
even if faced with UN sanctions.
Uranium enrichment is used to make nuclear fuel as well as the
core of an atom bomb. Iran insists it only wants to enrich uranium
to generate electricity.
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