In the following month the UN Security Council intends to introduce tougher sanctions against Iran after a surprising change from Russia and China in favor of punitive measures against the military and financial institutions of Tehran, wrote The Guardian, referring to a source in the council.
“We have reached an agreement on a draft of a strong resolution with the cooperation of both Russia and China” – has confirmed the Secretary of U.S. Hillary Clinton.
The draft of the resolution was agreed by five permanent Security Council members – the U.S., Great Britain, China, Russia and France – and sent to other ten Security Council members, the article says.
“The agreement was a rare success of Barack Obama’s foreign policy, having confronted with skepticism at home about the support from China, which imports oil from Iran, and Russia, which also maintains an active trade with Iran” – writes the the author of the article Ewen Macaskill.
Harmonization of the document was done for less than a day, after Brazil and Turkey announced their own agreement with Iran under which Tehran will supply a ton of enriched uranium in exchange for fuel rods for nuclear research reactor. Britain and U.S. saw the agreement with cool reception, stating that it is not enough.
“We are not surprised that Iran takes measures that could avert sanctions – said a spokesman of White House Bill Burton. – We intend to continue to exert pressure in every way possible” We will continue until Iran starts to comply with international obligations.”
Negotiations with ten non-permanent members of UN Security Council should take two to four weeks. U.S., Britain and France would like the unanimous approval of the resolution, but it will not be easy to convince Brazil and Turkey, after the failure of their initiatives, the article says.