UN passes Iran resolution with no new sanctions
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The United Nations Security Council has unanimously passed a resolution that again orders Iran to halt nuclear enrichment work, but imposes none of the new sanctions Washington and its allies want.
The text was agreed to on Friday (local time) by the five permanent Security Council members, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, and Germany on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and later circulated to the full Council.
The 18-line resolution calls on Iran to "comply fully and without delay" with previous council resolutions, which demand it halt enrichment, but also "reaffirms its commitment... to an early negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear issue."
It also urges Iran to meet the requirements of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, which is investigating whether Iran had conducted research on an atomic weapon.
The agency reported earlier this month that Iran was not cooperating but Tehran says it is.
Iran, which insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful and will only be used to generate electricity, dismissed the resolution.
"These [resolutions] are not constructive," Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili told Iranian television.
"What they need to do is to attract the trust of the Iranian nation through constructive cooperation and collective commitment."
He also says the text could mean that the six powers are no longer united on the issue of Tehran's nuclear program.
Divisions among the powers have been clear for some time.
The United States, Britain and others accuse Tehran of stonewalling the IAEA and want the council to pass a resolution imposing a fourth round of sanctions against Iran.
However, Russia and China have given reluctant backing to three previous sanctions resolutions that included asset freezes and travel bans on specific Iranian individuals and companies, but they are blocking further measures for the time being.
- Reuters
