Proposed Iran sanctions face opposition

The United States and its Western allies won crucial support from Russia and China for new sanctions against Iran over its suspect nuclear program, but they now face a tough campaign to get backing from the rest of the U.N. Security Council.

The draft resolution, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, would ban Iran from pursuing "any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons," freeze assets of nuclear-related companies linked to the Revolutionary Guard, bar Iranian investment in activities such as uranium mining, and prohibit Iran from buying several categories of heavy weapons including attack helicopters and missiles.

It would also call on all countries to cooperate in cargo inspections - which must receive the consent of the ship's flag state - if there are "reasonable grounds" to believe these activities could contribute to Iranian nuclear activities.

On the financial side, the draft calls on - but does not require - countries to block financial transactions, including insurance and reinsurance, and ban the licensing of Iranian banks if they have information that provides "reasonable grounds" to believe these activities could contribute to Iranian nuclear activities.

Iranian Vice President Mehdi Mostafavi dismissed the new sanctions push, saying it was nothing new.

"Most countries stand by Iran's side in the nuclear field. So if a few other countries, including the Americans, differ, then it is not important for us," Mostafavi told reporters on Wednesday in Beirut where he will be attending a Christian-Muslim dialogue conference.

The agreement appeared to be a significant victory for the Obama administration, which has doggedly pursued sanctions since Iran rebuffed U.S. overtures last year. Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Russia and China, which have close ties to Iran and could veto any resolution, joined fellow permanent council members Britain, France and the United States as well as non-member Germany in supporting the sanctions proposal.

Both Russia and China resisted sanctions before they were persuaded to support the stepped up pressure on Iran in recent weeks. Proposed sanctions relating to Iran's oil and gas industry were removed due to opposition from the two countries, which have vast investments and interests in Iran's energy sector.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the final draft is acceptable because it is "focused adequately on nonproliferation matters" and doesn't cause "humanitarian damage" or create problems for normal economic activities in Iran and the country's economic relations with other countries.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told a Senate committee that she spent Tuesday on the phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "finalizing the resolution."

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Lavrov "expressed anxiety" in his talk with Clinton about reports that the United States and European Union might undertake unilateral sanctions against Iran beyond measures agreed to by the Security Council.

At least three of the 10 non-permanent Security Council members - Brazil, Turkey and Lebanon - have expressed opposition to new sanctions.

The U.S. introduced the draft sanctions resolution at a closed council meeting Tuesday but Brazil announced afterwards that that it won't even discuss it "at this point" because it wants to focs on the nuclear swap agreement that Iran signed Monday with Brazil and Turkey.

The deal would take 1,200 kilograms, about 2,600 pounds, of low-enriched uranium out of Iran for a year and return higher-enriched uranium for a medical research reactor in Tehran. That's the same amount as under a tentative Otober agreement negotiated by the U.S., Russia, France and Iran and endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"We feel there is a new situation," said Brazil's U.N. Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, noting that Iran's first signed commitment to he nuclear swap "creates a confidence building atmosphere for further dialogue and negotiations."

Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim conceded that the agreement did not solve all the problems posed by Iran's nuclear program, which the West suspects could lead to the development of nuclear weapons, bu he argued it lays the groundwork for a peaceful solution to the dispute.

"I am optimistic about the results," he said in Brasilia.

U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice insisted, however, that the pursuit of new sanctions has "nothing to do with" the proposed nuclear swap. The October proposal was presented s a "confidence-building measure" not as a solution to Iran's nuclear standoff, she said.

Rice stressed that Iran has taken new actions since October and even after Monday's agreement the government announced that it still planned to enrich uranium to 20 percent. That "not only eliminates any confidencebuilding potential" but intensifies Iran's violation of existing U.N. sanctions, she said.

She said she is confident the resolution will get the minimum nine "yes" votes without a veto needed for adoption by the 15-member council, but the final tally remains uncertain.


Associated Press writrs Anne Flaherty, Matthew Lee and Barry Schweid in Washington contributed to this report.