UN Security Council to meet again on Iran Tuesday

NEW YORK, United States—The United Nations Security Council has agreed to hold new closed-door consultations Tuesday on a fourth sanctions resolution against Iran over its suspect nuclear program, with sponsors aiming for a vote later this week.

The 15 members met Monday for nearly an hour after Brazil and Turkey asked for "a meeting on Iran at some point prior to adoption of sanctions on this issue," the Mexican presidency of the council said.

Diplomats said no consensus emerged during the closed-door session and US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice told reporters the council would hold fresh consultations on the sanctions draft early Tuesday.

The council's five council permanent members—Britain, France, China, Russia, and the United States—are co-sponsoring the sanctions draft and believe they have the votes to secure passage.

"The sponsors are aiming for adoption on Wednesday," said one Western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The co-sponsors are pressing ahead with their text without the backing of Brazil and Turkey, two non-permanent council members who insist that fresh sanctions would be counter-productive, as they say a deal they brokered opened up an opportunity for further diplomacy.

Lebanon has also indicated it cannot support the resolution for domestic political reasons.

Last month, Turkey and Brazil brokered a deal under which Iran agreed to ship 1,200 kilograms (2,640 pounds) of its low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey in return for high-enriched uranium fuel for the Tehran reactor that would be supplied later by Russia and France.

But the accord drew a cool reaction from world powers led by the United States.

"We expect to bring the matter before the council this week," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in Washington.

Western powers fear that Iran's atomic program masks a bid to build nuclear weapons. Tehran denies this, saying the program is aimed at peaceful energy generation, which it insists it has the right to pursue.

"I don't think we ever expected the resolution to pass unanimously," according to a senior US official who spoke on condition of anonymity in Washington.

The official added there was "still work being done on the (draft's) annexes," which expand a list of individuals and entities subject to a travel ban and assets freeze.

A vote on the text cannot be scheduled until there is agreement on the annexes.

The US draft resolution would expand an arms embargo and measures against Iran's banking sector and ban it from sensitive overseas activities like uranium mining and developing ballistic missiles, diplomats said.

It also bars the sale of battle tanks, armored combat vehicles, large caliber artillery systems, combat aircraft, attack helicopters, warships, missiles or missile systems to Iran.
And it urges all states to inspect all cargo to and from Iran in their territory, including seaports and airports, when there is reasonable ground to believe they carry banned items.
It also authorizes states to conduct high-sea inspections of vessels believed to ferrying banned items from or to Iran.

In a sop to Brazil and Turkey, the text does note the efforts of the two countries "toward an agreement with Iran on the Tehran Research Reactor that could serve as a confidence-building measure."

On Sunday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the co-sponsors of the resolution have the required nine votes for adoption.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad however made it clear Friday that his country will defend its rights even if a new UN sanctions resolution is passed.

"We are standing in the face of enemies. To defend the rights of the nation, we will pull out any resolutions from the mouth" of the enemies, he said in a speech marking the 21st death anniversary of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

Source: Inquirer