By RIA Novosti
Moscow : Russia Tuesday said it expected Iran to fully comply with the new UN Security Council resolution.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution Monday imposing a third round of economic sanctions on Iran against its nuclear programme. The resolution was passed with 14 votes in favour. Indonesia abstained from the voting.
“We are counting on the Iranian leadership to thoroughly analyze the contents of the adopted resolution, and to make a decision that complies with the IAEA and Security Council’s demands,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.
Under the new sanctions, the accounts of certain Iranian companies and banks will be frozen, and goods leaving and entering the Islamic country will be subjected to inspections.
In addition, travel bans have been imposed on five Iranian officials involved in nuclear projects. The resolution also bans the sale of ‘dual-use’ items that could be utilized by Iran for military purposes.
Iran has 90 days to comply with the new resolution.
“The resolution is a serious political signal to Tehran, urging the Iranian leadership to cooperate with the UN Security Council and to comply with the decisions adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors,” the ministry said.
The diplomatic standoff between Iran and the West began almost six years ago over suspicions that Tehran was secretly developing atomic weapons.
Tehran has always insisted it needs nuclear technology for electricity generation only. Earlier two rounds of UN sanctions were imposed on Iran – in December 2006 and March 2007.
Russia stands for an “innovative” approach to negotiations with Iran, and is willing to maintain, together with the other Iran Six members – Germany, France, the U.S., Britain, and China – a serious and constructive dialogue with Iran on its nuclear programme in order to resolve all remaining controversial issues, the ministry statement said.
Meanwhile, Tehran denounced the current and previous resolutions as a violation of international law. It also stated that it would not comply with the new resolution.
“The UN Resolution 1803 is politically motivated. This document is unacceptable [for Iran] and we will not comply with it,” Allaeddin Broujerdi, the head of Iran’s parliamentary committee on foreign policy and national security, said Tuesday in an interview with the Iranian Students’ News Agency.
The decision by the UN Security Council to impose a new round of sanctions came despite a report by the U.S. intelligence community late last year stating that Iran had stopped attempts to produce a nuclear weapon in 2003.