West Rules Out Iran Sanctions Until September

The U.N. Security Council is not expected to consider tougher sanctions on Iran before September in hopes that Tehran will increase cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency officials investigating its nuclear program, Reuters reported Friday (see GSN, July 16).

Tehran this month told the U.N. nuclear watchdog that it wanted to resolve issues regarding its nuclear ambitions, but Iran continues to add centrifuges to an underground uranium enrichment facility and has refused U.N. demands that it stop enrichment activities.

Iranian officials have said they would allow inspectors to return to the construction site of a heavy-water reactor before the end of July.  Tehran blocked agency access to the site four months ago to protest the council’s sanctions (see GSN, March 26).

“This is not to be sniffed at, though it does not meet our core demand for full [nuclear] suspension,” said a European diplomat.  “But I do not think our core demands are achievable under present circumstances.”

European Union negotiators have continued to hold official contact with Iranian officials, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana could meet with Iranian national security chief Ali Larijani this month if Tehran makes progress with agency inspectors, European diplomats said (see GSN, July 6).

U.S. financial sanctions on Iran and pressure on European nations have had more effect than U.N. sanctions in limiting Iran’s access to the international economy, diplomats said.

One European Union diplomat reported a 20 percent reduction over the last year in trade between Iran and Germany.  “Financial sanctions are biting, but they hurt the business community and not directly the nuclear decision-makers, who are mainly the clergy and the military,” the official said.

When asked if recent steps along with a slowdown in Iran’s expansion of its enrichment capacity would eliminate the option of a new round of U.N. sanctions, a European Union diplomat in Vienna said, “We are coming to a situation where five out of the six (powers) would support further talks, and only one would insist on a complete suspension before talking.  In that case, the U.S. would play into Iranian hands” (Paul Taylor, Reuters, July 20).

Meanwhile, Iran has denied recent reports that it agreed to give Syria $1 billion in weapons procurement funds in exchange for Syria’s promise that it would not conduct peace talks with Israel, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, April 16).

 “This is a media game,” Iran Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told reporters at his weekly press briefing.  “It is not confirmed.”

According to a report Saturday in the Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Iran had agreed to assist Damascus with nuclear research and chemical weapons development.  The report alleged that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had signed the deal Thursday while in Syria (Associated Press/Forbes, July 22).

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