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U.N. Imposes New Sanctions on Iran
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad smiles during a press conference in Baghdad, Sunday, March 2, 2008. Ahmadinejad arrived Sunday in Baghdad for the first-ever trip by an Iranian president to Iraq.
(Hadi Mizban - AP)
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But when the six major powers met again in Berlin on Jan. 22, Washington had to back down further to win consensus. Gone were measures against Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and its elite Quds Force. So were provisions sanctioning two of the nation's biggest banks.
Washington had salvaged the diplomatic initiative, though at a cost. The toughest measures in yesterday's resolution include a travel ban on five officials linked to nuclear proliferation and a mandate on countries to "exercise vigilance" about new export credits and transactions with Bank Melli and Bank Saderat.
The new resolution expanded the list of banned dual-use items that can be subverted for weapons development. It also urged countries to inspect cargo on aircraft and ships traveling to and from Iran if they are suspected of transporting goods prohibited by the United Nations. But it offers no enforcement mechanisms for any of the measures.
The Bush administration heralded the 14 to 0 vote, with only Indonesia abstaining, after French President Nicolas Sarkozy won support from South Africa and Libya.
"The international community has spoken with one voice again today. Iran has a choice to make: It can reap the benefits of cooperation with the rest of the world or it can continue to isolate itself and suffer the consequences of the additional sanctions imposed by the United Nations," said Gordon Johndroe, National Security Council spokesman.
Iran responded defiantly, with U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee charging that the Security Council has become "a mere tool of the national foreign policy of just a few countries."
"Iran cannot and will not accept a requirement which is legally defective and politically coercive," he said. "History tells us that no amount of pressure, intimidation and threat will be able to coerce our nation to give up its basic and legal rights." The council's action violated Iran's legal right, enshrined in the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty, to produce nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, Khazaee said.
Iran now has 90 days to suspend enrichment, 30 days longer than in the previous resolutions. But former officials involved in Iran diplomacy said that Resolution 1803 is probably the last one the Bush administration will be able to orchestrate.
"We've come to the end of the line on new initiatives that will move the Iranians significantly," said Suzanne Maloney, a former State Department expert on Iran. The Bush administration has "run out of time."
The administration is counting on the European Union to impose its own sanctions on Iran, U.S. officials said. But European officials counter that the weakening of the U.N. resolution will affect the scope of their actions, because many European countries do business with Iran.
Lynch reported from the United Nations.
