Western Nations to Pursue Unilateral Iran Penalties

The United States and other Western powers are each preparing penalties against Iranian industries amid reluctance from China and Russia to impose new U.N. sanctions against the state, the Associated Press reported Friday (see GSN, Aug. 8).

The West has threatened to impose new penalties on Iran if it does not accept an offer of benefits for halting its uranium enrichment program, an effort that could produce fuel for a nuclear bomb.  Iran insists the program is strictly peaceful in nature.

"There are areas of the Iranian economy that are vulnerable to targeted sanctions, whether they be in the LNG (liquefied natural gas) sector, investment in oil and gas sectors, imported refined products, reinsurance, (or) other financial areas," a high-level British official told journalists Friday. 

Those are "areas we would look at, if we are looking to increase the pressure on the Iranian leadership," the source said, adding that France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and other nations are likely to impose such penalties.

The official said the measures would ultimately accompany a fourth U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution against Iran that could be passed later this year as well as stricter European Union-Iranian trade regulations implemented Friday.

The five permanent U.N. Security Council member nations and Germany could meet next month to begin negotiating the new resolution.  "It will be difficult, as it was last time, to actually agree the text of some tough sanctions in the Security Council," the official said.

The United Kingdom said it has not given up on the six-nation strategy of offering Iran incentives for halting uranium enrichment while simultaneously threatening new penalties if Tehran refuses to do so (David Stringer, Associated Press I/International Herald Tribune, Aug. 8).

Iran said yesterday it would continue its enrichment program despite the possibility of new economic penalties, Reuters reported.

"Our stance would not change with sanctions or the threat of sanctions," Iranian state media quoted government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham as saying.  "It is important that our country is ready to insist on its rights under any conditions" (Reuters, Aug. 10).

Elham was quoted as saying Iran is “ready to confront sanctions” over its uranium enrichment program (Associated Press II/Google News, Aug. 10).

Iranian and EU negotiators decided in a telephone conversation today to continue discussing the nuclear impasse, Agence France-Presse reported.

"The two sides agreed to continue negotiations in a constructive atmosphere," Iranian state television said, adding that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and top Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili “voiced satisfaction at the constructive trend of negotiations in Geneva and the contacts afterwards" (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Aug. 11).

Iran on Friday described two days of discussions it held last week with International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards chief Olli Heinonen as “positive.”

"Current developments as well as relations between Iran's Atomic Energy Organization and the IAEA were discussed in a positive atmosphere," Iranian Atomic Energy Organization deputy chief Mohammad Saeedi said, according to state media.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog gave little information about the focus of the talks, but a source close to the agency said the discussion was intended to address remaining IAEA concerns in a probe of Iran’s nuclear ambitions (Agence France-Presse II/Google News, Aug. 8).

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