Europe's Iran Sanctions
October 20, 2006
Envoys from the three European powers, which have been spearheading failed talks to persuade Iran to scale back its nuclear ambitions, are drafting the sanctions document in consultation with the United States.
The envoys would not discuss the details of the gradual sanctions being considered. Officials in Washington, however, said a first set of punitive measures was likely to focus on banning the supply of material and funding for Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programs.
Other steps could include asset freezes and travel bans on nuclear and weapons scientists.
Discussions to continue
"I expect that Iran will be coming (before the council) fairly soon," Japan's UN envoy Kenzo Oshima, president of the 15-member council for October, told reporters Thursday. "It depends on the progress of consultations among key interested countries. But nothing has been discussed yet."
France's UN envoy Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said Thursday he hoped a draft could be discussed Friday by envoys from Germany and the council's five permanent members -- the so-called P5, which is comprised of Britain, France, China, Russia and the United.
Another diplomat said he did not anticipate a draft to be submitted to the full council before next week.
"We will have a few days between the P5+1 meeting and the consultations (by the full council) so the Russians and Chinese have time to digest the draft," he added.
Russia and China may counter sanctions
Last week senior diplomats from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- finalized a preliminary list of possible sanctions and directed their UN envoys to begin drawing up a sanctions draft.
Their decision came after the European Union concluded, following several rounds of fruitless talks with Iran, that the issue must be handed back to the Security Council.
But while the six powers agreed on the need for sanctions against Tehran, Russia and China, which both have important economic ties to Iran and traditionally reluctant to use sanctions as a diplomatic tool, are likely to oppose biting sanctions.
Russia's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin indicated earlier this week that an accord on a draft would take some time.
Iranian president not yielding
The West suspects that Tehran is seeking to build nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian atomic program. But Iran insists its program is for peaceful energy purposes only and argues it has every right to enrich uranium under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Iran ignored an Aug. 31 deadline set by the Security Council to freeze uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to produce nuclear reactor fuel but also for bomb-making.
Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeated in a speech in Islamshahr, southwest of Tehran, that his country would not back down.
"The enrichment of uranium and having nuclear fuel are among the main demands of Iranian nation," he said.
Iran warned of radicalization
Wednesday, Iran also warned the Security Council against imposing sanctions saying such a move would "radicalize" the situation and affect its cooperation with the UN atomic agency.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said US-led efforts to put a draft resolution to the Security Council would make ending the standoff even harder and even have consequences for the wider Middle East region.
Last June the P5 and Germany drew up a list of 15 possible punitive measures against Iran as part of a "carrots and sticks" package that also included economic and security incentives if
Tehran agreed to suspend uranium enrichment.