UN Security Council tightens sanctions in Iran over nuclear programme

By NNN-KUNA

United Nations : The Security Council has adopted a resolution to tighten and widen sanctions on Iran over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment activities, and warned that it will do it again in three months if Tehran fails to comply.


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Indonesia abstained even though the council’s key members — the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China — plus Germany met earlier Monday in a last minute attempt to allay its concerns.

The resolution called on states to inspect cargos to and from Iran of aircraft and vessels, at their airports and seaports, when there is suspicion that the goods they are carrying are prohibited.

It also imposed a complete travel ban on some Iranian officials related to Tehran’s nuclear programme and expanded travel restrictions and asset freeze on additional officials. Their names appear in three annexes to the resolution.

It also banned trade with Iran in goods which have dual civilian and military use and introduced financial monitoring on two banks — Bank Meli and Bank Saderat — suspected of dealing with proliferation activities.

The resolution gave Iran three months to suspend its uranium enrichment activities. Otherwise, the council, based on a report by the IAEA three months from Monday, will “adopt further appropriate measures” that do not include military force.

The council’s other reluctant members — Libya, South Africa and Vietnam — who objected to the resolution’s language last week, finally voted in favour of the resolution after their proposed amendments were accepted by the resolution’s co-sponsors — France, Germany and Britain.

Libya, South Africa and Vietnam insisted last week that the council “reiterate its determination to reinforce the authority of the IAEA, strongly support the role of the Agency’s Board of Governors and commend the Agency for its efforts to resolve outstanding issues relating to Iran’s nuclear programme”.

They also insisted that all states’ rights and obligations related to international trade are upheld. They further welcomed the agreement between Iran and the IAEA to resolve all outstanding issues concerning Iran’s nuclear programme and progress made in this regard and encouraged the IAEA to continue its work to clarify all outstanding issues.

They finally managed to have the inspection of shipments to and from Iran be made in accordance with the states’ national legal authorities and legislation and consistent with international law, in particular “the law of the sea and relevant international civil aviation agreements”.

Addressing the council before the vote, Iranian envoy Mohammad Khazaee expressed regret that the council is being discredited because of some council members, in an indirect reference to the US and Britain.

He made a lengthy speech about Iran’s “peaceful” nuclear programme and all the steps it took to build confidence and remove all doubts and concerns in that regard.

On the council’s call for suspension of uranium enrichment activities, he said Iran “cannot and will not accept a requirement which is legally defective and political coercive. History tells us that no amount of pressure, intimidation and threat will be able to coerce our nation to give up its basic and legal rights”.

He described the council’s action Monday as “unjust and irrational. History will ultimately render its judgment over the behaviour of the council … I wish to express our grave concern and dismay regarding the path that the council has chosen and pursued”.

The sponsors of Monday’s resolution, he noted, are the very ones who provided Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons to use them against Iranian civilians and Iraqi Kurds in the 80s.

He also raised the council’s failure to issue a press statement on the current holocaust in Gaza. “The council’s credibility has been further damaged because of the political motives of a few countries, political motives that have prevented the council from heeding the judgment of a technical body of the UN, namely the IAEA,” he said.

The future security of the world, he added, depends on how the UN, and especially the Security Council, will function in a “just and impartial manner”.

Libyan Deputy Permanent Representative Ibrahim Dabbashi told the council that in order to prove the body’s fairness, it should deal with the non-proliferation in all the Middle East, mainly in Israel, adding that although it did not agree with many aspects of resolution 1803, it joined the consensus.

South Africa’s envoy Dumisani Kumalo told the council that he too did not agree with many aspects of resolution 1803 but decided to join the consensus.

Indonesia’s envoy Marty Natalegawa, who abstained on the draft, told the council that the strategic goals of council resolutions 1737 and 1747, which were adopted unanimously, “are being achieved. Iran is cooperating with the IAEA. At this juncture, more sanctions are not the best course”.

British envoy John Sawers read out in the council a statement agreed upon by the foreign ministers of the P5 plus Germany. The statement said that this is the third time the council sends a “strong message of international resolve” to Iran by adopting resolution 1803 under Article 41 of Chapter VII of the UN Charter.

“We call upon Iran to heed the requirements of UN Security Council and the IAEA, including the suspension of its enrichment-related and reprocessing activities,” the statement said. It added that they remain “committed” to an early negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear issue and to a dual-track approach and reconfirm the political, security and economic proposals previously made to Iran in 2006.

“We urge Iran to take this opportunity to engage with us all and to find a negotiated way forward. We reiterate our recognition of Iran’s right to develop, research, production, and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in conformity with its NPT obligations,” the statement said.

It added that the six remain ready to negotiate future arrangements, modalities and timing in this respect once the conditions for negotiations have been established. This, it noted, will require further diplomatic efforts and “innovative” approaches. To that, he added, they asked the EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana to meet with Saeed Jalili, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, and to address the “interests and concerns of both sides in a manner which can gradually create the conditions of the opening of negotiations”.

US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad told the council that Iran’s violations of council resolutions “not only continue, but are deepening”. Instead of suspending its enrichment and reprocessing activities as required by the council, he explained, Iran chose to expand dramatically its number of operating centrifuges and to develop a new generation of centrifuges, testing one of them with nuclear fuel.

“We agree with the IAEA that until Iran declares all of its nuclear activities and ceases its weapons-related work, Iran’s nuclear activities cannot be verified as peaceful,” he said.

He said Libya and South Africa decided a long time ago to abandon their programmes to produce nuclear weapons. “These countries did not see their security diminished as a result of their decisions; indeed, one could easily say their security has been enhanced. Nor did they lose their right to develop nuclear energy. We urge Iran to take the same path these countries have chosen,” he said.

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