Iran Sanctions Text Obtained, Vote Likely Wednesday
EmailABC News' Kirit Radia reports: ABC News has obtained the final draft of the latest Iran sanctions text that two US officials say is expected to be put to a vote in the UN Security Council on Wednesday. You can read the text HERE. US officials say they expect the resolution to pass, with all five veto-wielding countries on board despite last week’s Gaza flotilla violence. At least three non-veto countries, Brazil, Turkey, and Lebanon, are expected to vote against the resolution. The text, obtained from a UN diplomat, differs very little from the version initially presented to the full council on May 18 by the so-called P5+1, the five permanent members of the council plus Germany that have been negotiating with Iran. The final text adds an acknowledgement of the recent controversial nuclear fuel swap deal that Iran signed with Brazil and Turkey last month. In a sign of the P5+1′s displeasure with the deal it says does not prevent Tehran from pursuing a nuclear weapon if it wants to, the new document includes a new reference to “the importance of Iran addressing the core issues related to its nuclear programme.” Today council diplomats are putting the final touches on the document’s annexes, which will list the Iranian individuals and entities placed under sanctions. Those lists will ultimately determine how much teeth the new sanctions will have. The new sanctions would allow for the inspection of cargo to and from Iran, a tough measure similar to one put in place against North Korea, and sanction Iran’s shipping lines. It would also strengthen an arms embargo, toughen financial sanctions, and place a new emphasis on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps which have increased their financial and business holdings in the country. “In all, it is impressive that the draft survived so close to its original form and that it has continued to move ahead speedily with the support of China and Russia. Ambassador Rice deserves a raise,” said Jacqueline Shire, a nuclear expert at the Institute for Science and International Security. Turkey and Brazil, in an effort to voice their opposition to the resolution one more time, called a meeting of the UN Security Council late this afternoon.
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“The new sanctions would allow for the inspection of cargo to and from Iran, a tough measure similar to one put in place against North Korea, and sanction Iran’s shipping lines.”
Huh? Inspection of Cargo on the high seas?…Will that include humanitarian ships from North Korea?
Posted by: Sigmonde | June 7, 2010, 7:24 pm 7:24 pm
More sanctions, great. Maybe we can take out more than a million folks like we did in Iraq in the 90′s. Muslim folk will love us then. Who is making policy in DC anyway?
Posted by: Huh | June 7, 2010, 8:18 pm 8:18 pm
That is probably all well and good, but…
When will we see the US join the international community in our demand for an unbiased, international probe of the Israeli attack on the aid flotilla in international waters?
Or at least some unbiased reporting of the incident by the US media? Not Palestinian biased, just plain unbiased reporting?
Anyone? No?
Posted by: Dane | June 7, 2010, 8:53 pm 8:53 pm
Iran sanctions have nothing at all to do with the Israeli & Egyptian blockade of the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza. That is a separate issue.
Iran has vowed to “wipe Israel off the map.” They supply rockets to Hamas and Hezbollah, who launch them into Israeli cities and towns, deliberately targeting Jewish women and children. When Iran has enriched enough uranium to weapons-grade material, they will be able to give the terrorists a nuclear weapon to use against Tel Aviv or elsewhere in the Jewish State.
Israel is a legal nation that has been repeatedly attacked by Arab neighbors. Israel’s enemies openly call for the complete destruction of Israel. They either fail to negotiate with Israel and they break agreements that they have signed. How would you defend your home from terrorists who vow to destroy it and murder your family? What would you do to keep weapons from your enemies? Israel does not “occupy Palestine.” Jews lived there 1,000 years before there were Muslims and 1,500 years before there were Palestinians. They never left. Israel has a right to take whatever action is necessary to protect her citizens from attack.
Similarly, the UN has an obligation to keep nuclear weapons away from rogue nations bent upon destroying other nations. Iran clearly falls under that umbrella. Sanctions must have teeth in order to be effective. Let’s hope that this iteration will have better luck than prior attempts.
Charles
Posted by: Charles | June 8, 2010, 2:34 pm 2:34 pm
“Israel is a legal nation”
This begs the question of what exactly a nation is, which is so widely disputed that there is no accepted common definition. You probably meant a “legal state”, but that has its own contradictions.
Regardless, any concept of nation or state having legitimacy, must include the idea of a defined territory. Since Israel refuses to define its territory, it is impossible to confer lefitimacy in a legal sense.
Certainly, as Iran agrees, Israel has a right to exist (the leader in Iran did not of course promise to “wipe Israel off the map” as our interlocutor claimed, but rather said he believed that Israel in its current form is unsustainable). However, until Israel is willing to recognize its borders, it is going to continue to have problems.
This is why Israel, unlike Turkey, is not a formal US ally, since a common defense treaty would require a definition of when Israel’s borders are overrun.
Posted by: Flash Override | June 8, 2010, 6:06 pm 6:06 pm