World Powers Agree on Sanctions Draft Against Iran, Ignore Swap Deal

World powers agree on sanctions draft against Iran

MOSCOW, May 19, 2010, (Xinhua) --

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany have agreed on a draft resolution that would impose new sanctions on Iran, the Interfax reported.

The six countries brokering the peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear problem reaffirm their tentative understanding of the UN Security Council's new draft resolution on Iran, Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over the phone on Wednesday.

"The Russian side confirmed that the five plus one group's tentative understanding of the draft resolution remains," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"During the next stage, work will have to continue within the (UN) Security Council, where the council's non-permanent members will have a chance to express their attitude to the draft resolution," Lavrov said.

US hails anti-Iran UN bid, ignores swap

Press TV, Thursday, 20 May 2010, 09:06:11 GMT

US President Barack Obama (R) and his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon
The US president has hailed an anti-Iran UN Security Council (UNSC) draft resolution, ignoring Tehran's recent declaration on a nuclear fuel swap deal in Turkey.

"I am pleased that we have reached an agreement with our P5-plus-one partners on a strong resolution that we now have shared with our Security Council partners," President Barack Obama said in a joint press conference on Wednesday with his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon.

Obama said that Iran should "uphold its international obligations or face increased sanctions and pressure including UN sanctions."

The remarks come days after Iran issued a joint declaration with current UNSC members Turkey and Brazil announcing Iran's readiness to engage in a nuclear fuel swap with the West under which Tehran would ship 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for 120 kg of higher-enriched uranium it requires for producing medical isotopes in Tehran's Research Reactor (TRR).

The declaration came as part of a plan to settle an ongoing dispute over Iran's enrichment program, while supplying fuel to the TRR for its medical productions mostly dedicated to cancer patients.

A day after Iran made the announcement; US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton claimed that the six powers had "reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation of Russia and China."

Clinton's claim came after Russian, Chinese and UN officials welcomed Tehran's declaration on the nuclear swap in Turkey as a positive development.

The new draft resolution, details of which were made public on Wednesday, calls on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities or face further UN Security Council sanctions.

The draft, if approved, will ban countries from selling new categories of heavy weaponry to Iran and will impose restrictions on the country's banking sector.

The US says it is still "seriously concerned" about the Iranian nuclear program and would continue to push for more UNSC sanctions.

The US insistence on anti-Iran sanctions are widely reported to be influenced by powerful pro-Israeli groups in the US. Obama met Wednesday with a group of Jewish Congressmen to pledge his commitment to push through the sanctions resolution in the UNSC.

Iran says any punitive measure against its nuclear work would be legally baseless and unfair as the country's nuclear program is being fully monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

AR/CS/MB

Iran doubts West sincerity in swap deal

Press TV, Thu, 20 May 2010 11:46:23 GMT

Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has cast doubt on the sincerity of the West about a proposal to provide fuel for a research reactor in Tehran.

Larijani said that the West's reaction to a recent nuclear declaration announced by Iran testified to its insincerity in nuclear dealings with Tehran.

"Their reaction to the Tehran declaration proved that they are not sincere in the fuel swap," he said.

Following the three-way talks between Iran, Turkey and Brazil, Tehran announced a nuclear declaration on Monday whereby it would send some 1,200 kg of its low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for a total of 120 kg of higher enriched uranium.

The declaration came as part of an earlier plan to supply fuel for the Tehran Research Reactor which produces medical isotopes for cancer patients.

Iran had earlier refused to ship out its uranium under the original deal, citing guarantee concerns. Iranian officials, however, believe that the new declaration can provide Tehran with objective guarantees over the fuel delivery.

While the UN, Russia and China hailed the declaration, the US said that Washington and its allies were "seriously concerned" about the nuclear program although the transfer of low-enriched uranium outside Iranian soil would be a positive step.

The US said that it would continue to push for more sanctions against Iran with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying that the six powers discussing Iran's nuclear work had "reached an agreement on a strong draft."

The new draft resolution, the details of which were made public on Wednesday, calls on Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities or face further UN Security Council sanctions.

If ratified, the draft will ban countries from selling new categories of heavy weaponry to Iran and will impose restrictions on the country's banking sector.

With the new draft resolution, Larijani said, the US showed that it was not willing to bring about change in its foreign policy on Iran.

Iran says the declaration leaves no excuse for the West to block the nuclear fuel swap, as Tehran has accepted their prior condition to ship out its uranium to a third country.

"Their previous excuse was that Iran has not accepted [their] demand to ship out 1,200 kilograms of its 3.5 percent-enriched uranium. They insistently said that it is Iran that is avoiding the acceptance of the proposal. Now that we have accepted this condition, they are creating other excuses," Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi told Press TV on Wednesday.

AR/HGH

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