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No Sanctions Left for Iran
// Both Russia and the U.S. are displeased with Europe-proposed resolution on Iran
The UN Security Council’s five permanent members and Germany are meeting in New York to discuss a new resolution on Iran, drafted by three EU members. Moscow has lambasted the draft as too severe, even though the blueprint does not mention the nuclear power station in Bushehr. The United States is also dissatisfied with the resolution, considering the measures too lenient and pushing for halting nuclear cooperation between Russia and Iran.
Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, France’s ambassador to the UN and co-writer of the draft, called the resolution “rigid and focused on nuclear activities which have military importance.” In an attempt to forestall objections from Russia, the French ambassador made a special note that EU-promoted sanctions would not be imposed on the nuclear power station in Bushehr. The drafters did not even mention Bushehr in the resolution, knowing that Russia would block it in this case. De la Sabliere said he was certain that the six nations would manage to amend the draft resolution and pass it.
Sanctions against Iran look quite significant even without mention of Bushehr. The blueprint binds “all states to prevent the sale and supply to Iran of items and technologies which could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs”, bans the persons engaged in these programs from travel and freezes “funds and assets of these people and entities involved in Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”
Movers of the resolution apparently hoped to find support with Moscow and Washington as well. However, outspoken criticism from all members of the discussion showed that these hopes were futile. Russia thought draft to be too strict while the United States called it too lenient.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was the first dismiss draft resolution as unacceptable. “I believe that the proposed draft resolution does not match those tasks the six sides agreed on,” he said on Thursday. The Russian foreign policy chief did not specify which points Moscow is particularly dissatisfied with but said that Moscow would be willing to discuss ways to “eliminate the risks of sensitive technologies getting into the hands of Iran.” However, he underscored importance of “maintaining all possible channels of communication with Iran” until the IEAE clarify the issues of interest to them.
Meanwhile, Washington was not satisfied with the new draft either. The States hope to make the most of the sanctions regime in adopting a UN Security Council resolution. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a blistering statement on Thursday about Iran ahead of discussions in New York. “For the international community to be credible, it must pass a resolution now that holds Iran accountable for its defiance,” Rice said, addressing the Heritage Foundation in Washington. She believes that the success of the UN Security Council in giving the adequate punishment to Teheran will determine the reputation of this international body.
Washington believes that the main flaw of the new EU draft is that it leaves loopholes for Iran to develop nuclear weapons. American diplomatic sources note that Washington thinks it essential to impose restrictions on nuclear cooperation of Moscow and Teheran and have it mentioned in the new UN Security Council resolution. U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, however, said he does not view Bushehr as a major obstacle for reaching agreement on the draft resolution. On the other hand, American officials does not make a secret of the fact that the United States would agree to nuclear fuel supplies to Iran only in case of full halt of uranium enrichment at nuclear facilities in Bushehr. The sources of Kommersant also note that Washington would also like to impose UN sanctions on a new nuclear reactor that Moscow is due to build to Teheran.
These proposals will naturally meet resistance of Moscow, dragging on the bargaining over the draft for numerous weeks.
Sergey Strokan
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 27, 2006
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