Incident

Incident

UN Security Council meets to back third sanctions against Iran sanctions

29 February 2008 09:17 (UTC +04:00)

The 15-member council agreed on Thursday to hold talks on the text for a third round of sanctions against Tehran.
"Our intention is to vote on the resolution as soon as possible, probably on Saturday," John Sawers, Britainâ€™s ambassador to the UN, said.
The draft renews a council demand that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment programme, which many council members fear is designed to create a nuclear weapon.
Tehran has repeatedly said that its nuclear programme is purely for generating electricity.
The new text includes a travel ban on officials involved in Tehranâ€™s nuclear and missile programmes, as well as inspections of suspicious import and export shipments.
The draft has already been agreed by the five veto-wielding members of the council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the US - meaning it is very likely to be adopted.
Britain, France sand Germany, co-sponsors of the text, say they are confident that they have sufficient support among the councilâ€™s 10 non-permanent members for a resolution to pass.
However, Indonesia, Libya, South Africa and Vietnam, all non-permanent council members, have said that further sanctions may be unnecessary.
Abdul Minty, South Africaâ€™s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the nuclear watchdog, said the latest report by Mohamed ElBaradei, the agencyâ€™s chief, showed "increasing confidence that Iran does not intend to use its nuclear programme for military purposes".
But Nicolas Sarkozy, Franceâ€™s president, called on Thabo Mbeki, South Africaâ€™s president, to back the sanctions draft on Thursday, during a visit to Cape Town, calling it "necessary to do something to avoid the worst".
Vitaly Churkin, Russiaâ€™s ambassador to the UN, said the council had to take a tough line against Iran, despite Moscowâ€™s close energy and economic ties.
Manouchehr Mottaki, Iranâ€™s foreign minister, called the Security Councilâ€™s charges "baseless", in a letter to Ban Ki-Moon, the UNâ€™s secretary-general.