U.S. Hails U.N. Resolution Against Iran

Alejandro D. Wolff, the U.S. deputy permanent representative to the U.N. responds to questions during a news conference on the unanimous vote by the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions against Iran Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006 at U.N. headquarters. The U.N. Security Council unanimously agreed Saturday to impose sanctions against Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, culminating two months of negotiations to curb a nuclear program the United States claims is aimed at building weapons. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) (Frank Franklin Ii - AP)

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration said Saturday it hopes the U.N. resolution penalizing Iran for its nuclear enrichment program will clear the way for tougher measures against Tehran by individual countries, particularly Russia.

"We don't think this resolution is enough in itself," Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said. "We want the international community to take further action. We're certainly not going to put all our eggs in the U.N. basket."

Approval of the resolution under a part of the U.N. Charter that makes it binding is "going to be humiliating for Iran," Burns told reporters after the unanimous vote.

Burns said the resolution takes away a main argument against bilateral penalties by individual countries, which have told U.S. officials that they could not do so until the U.N. acted. The administration wants other nations to join the U.S. and stop selling arms to Iran and to limit export credits to Tehran, he said.

"We want to let the Iranians know that there is a big cost to them," Burns said, so they will return to talks.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice later issued a statement saying: "The Iranian government, through its own actions, has further isolated itself and the Iranian people from the international community. This resolution is a strong signal to the government of Iran that it should accept its international obligations, suspend its sensitive nuclear activities and accept the negotiations path that the U.S. and its Security Council partners offered six months ago."

Russia, a permanent member of the Security Council, has close economic ties with Iran and has favored diplomacy over punitive penalties.

"We hope the Russian government is going to work with us in a very active way to send this message of unity to Iran and we hope Russia is going to take a very vigorous approach itself," Burns said.

The resolution imposes an asset freeze on a list of companies and people in the country's nuclear and missile programs _ a move that Burns described as the measure's most important part.

But the text was altered in that area to satisfy Russia, specifying the prohibited materials and technology and identifying those individuals and companies affected.

Neither President Bush, spending the holidays at Camp David and meeting with advisers on a new Iraq plan, nor the White House offered immediate comment on the vote.

The Islamic republic immediately rejected the resolution.