U.N. Security Council Closes in on Iran Sanctions Vote

Following a Western concession to Russia, prospects improved for a U.N. Security Council vote this week to sanction Iran for its refusal to freeze its nuclear program, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Dec. 20).

In a draft resolution circulated last night, France and the United Kingdom dropped an earlier provision that would have banned international travel by a dozen Iranian officials linked to the nation’s nuclear and missile programs.

The five permanent council members and Germany have agreed for several weeks on the main concepts of the resolution, to restrict the trade of nuclear and missile technology to Iran, but a few additional provisions have stalled progress.

Russia had opposed the travel ban as well as some details of a plan to freeze the foreign-held assets of several Iranian firms and agencies.  An asset-freeze provision, however, remains in the new draft resolution, AP reported.

While Russia and China have not publicly endorsed the new draft, a British official suggested they would.

“What I am confident is that there will be a vote on this before Christmas and that that resolution will carry,” British U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said yesterday.

Nevertheless, changes to the draft resolution are still possible, he said.  Council nations are expected to meet today to continue their discussions.

The new draft replaces the travel ban with language calling on all U.N. nations “to exercise vigilance” regarding movement of the 12 Iranian officials through their territory, and to notify a new council committee when any of the officials are present in their country, AP reported.

The new provision “will preserve a check on everybody moving,” Jones Parry said (Edith Lederer, Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Dec. 21).

The draft resolution also urges U.N. countries to bar Iranian students and other academics from receiving “specialized training” at foreign universities, the Washington Post reported (Colum Lynch, Washington Post, Dec. 21).

The new draft calls for an automatic suspension of the sanctions if the International Atomic Energy Agency verifies that Iran has frozen its efforts to develop uranium enrichment technology and to build a heavy-water nuclear reactor.  The sanctions would be completely terminated once Iran complies with a long-term agreement that has yet to be negotiated, AP reported.

Iranian officials have persistently said they will not freeze their nuclear activities even if U.N. sanctions are imposed, a policy repeated this week by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to AP

The draft resolution says the council would take “further appropriate measures under Article 41 of Chapter 7” of the U.N. charter if Iran fails to comply with the council’s demands.

Article 41 allows the council to set more stringent nonmilitary sanctions (Lederer, Associated Press).

Meanwhile, additional U.S. and British warships will be ordered into the Persian Gulf early next year in a display of military resolve, defense officials told the New York Times.

The move is intended to reassure Western allies in the region that shipping lanes will remain open even if tensions increase with Iran.

“They need reassurances that we expect to be part of the effort here for the long term, that we will not run away from intimidation and that we will be part of the effort here for security and stability at sea for the long term,” said Adm. Patrick Walsh, commander of naval forces in the U.S. Central Command.  “Our position must be visible and it must have muscle in order to be credible.  That requires sustained presence.”

A group of warships led by the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower has been in the gulf since Dec. 11, after it participated in an exercise to intercept nuclear smugglers at sea (see GSN, Oct. 30).  The carrier USS John C. Stennis, now in port in Bremerton, Wash., could lead a second group early next year, according to the Times. (Thom Shanker, New York Times, Dec. 21).

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