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WORLD / Middle East

UN Security Council to vote on Iran

(AP)
Updated: 2006-12-23 21:22

The Chinese Ambassador to the United Nations Wang Guangya leaves a
meeting, Dec. 21, 2006. The permanent members of the security council and
the German ambassador were meeting to discuss Iran; the meeting was
suspended with no conclusions reached. [AP]

United Nations - The UN Security Council scheduled a vote Saturday on a
resolution that would impose sanctions against Iran for its nuclear
program, culminating two months of tough negotiations aimed at getting
Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment.

It wasn't clear whether there would be unanimous support. In a final
attempt to win Russian support, key European nations circulated a new
text of a UN resolution late Friday.

Russia and China have called for a step-by-step approach to sanctions. By
contrast, the United States has pushed for very tough sanctions, with
Britain and France taking a slightly softer view.

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Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said the changes in the final
text "increase the chances of agreement tomorrow."

"Actually, this is a very nice step forward," Maria Zakharova,
spokeswoman for Russia's UN Mission, told two reporters after the meeting.

China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya said the Europeans "tried to build
consensus, but we will have to see by tomorrow morning whether consensus
is there."

The final draft would order all countries to ban the supply of specified
materials and technology that could contribute to Iran's nuclear and
missile programs. It would also impose an asset freeze on key companies
and individuals in the country's nuclear and missile programs named on a
UN list.

Iran insists its nuclear program is aimed solely at the peaceful
production of nuclear energy, but the Americans and Europeans suspect
Tehran's ultimate goal is the production of nuclear weapons.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated Tuesday that possible
Security Council sanctions would not stop Iran from pursuing uranium
enrichment, a technology that can be used to produce nuclear fuel for
civilian purposes or fuel for a nuclear bomb.

The resolution authorizes action under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the UN
Charter. It allows the Security Council to impose nonmilitary sanctions
such as completely or partially severing diplomatic and economic
relations, transportation and communications links.

If Iran fails to comply with the resolution, the draft says the council
will adopt "further appropriate measures" under Article 41.

During negotiations, a mandatory travel ban was dropped at Russia's
insistence.

Instead, the draft resolution calls on all states "to exercise vigilance"
regarding the entry or transit through their territory of those on a UN
list that names 12 top Iranians involved in the country's nuclear and
missile programs. It asks the 191 other UN member states to notify a
Security Council committee that will be created to monitor sanctions when
those Iranians show up in their country.

The resolution also says the council will review Iran's actions in light
of a report from the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
requested within 60 days, on whether Iran has suspended uranium
enrichment and complied with other IAEA demands.

If the IAEA verifies that Iran has suspended enrichment and reprocessing,
the resolution says the sanctions will be suspended to allow for
negotiations. It says sanctions will be terminated as soon as the IAEA
board confirms that Iran has complied with all its obligations.

Before the final text was circulated, Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly
Churkin pressed for amendments to ensure that Moscow can conduct
legitimate nuclear activities in Iran.

Russia is building Iran's first atomic power plant at Bushehr, which is
expected to go on line in late 2007. A reference to Bushehr in the
original draft was removed earlier, as Russia demanded.

Churkin complained that some organizations suspected of conducting
proliferation-sensitive activities had been included on the list subject
to financial sanctions "without even proving that is the case, and
therefore you cannot do any business with that institution, and that can
raise all sorts of issues."

Jones Parry said the list of 11 organizations and 12 individuals that
would be subject to having their assets frozen was not changed.

The six key parties trying to curb Iran's nuclear program, Britain,
France, Germany, Russia, China and the United States, offered Tehran a
package of economic incentives and political rewards in June if it agreed
to consider a long-term moratorium on enrichment and committed itself to
a freeze on uranium enrichment before talks on its nuclear program.

With Iran refusing to comply with an Aug. 31 council deadline to stop
enrichment, Britain and France circulated a draft sanctions resolution in
late October, which has been revised several times since then.

To meet concerns of Russia and China that the original resolution was too
broad, it was changed to specify in greater detail exactly what materials
and technology would be prohibited from being supplied to Iran and to
name those individuals and companies that would be affected.

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