U.S. and Russia Remain at Odds Over Iran Sanctions
WASHINGTON, Nov. 1, 2006 — -- As diplomats in the United Nations Security Council wrangle behind closed doors over a draft sanctions resolution on Iran, glimpses of the contentious negotiations have surfaced this week in public comments.
The United States and Russia are at odds over the strength of the sanctions against Iran for its failing to comply with previous Security Council resolutions calling for Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment program.
Russia seeks an exemption from sanctions for a Russian-built Bushehr nuclear facility in Iran, but the United States is opposed to such exemptions.
A draft of the resolution, obtained by ABC News, allows for some exemptions for the Bushehr site. It appears, however, that these exemptions go too far for the United States and not far enough for the Russians.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that Russia could not accept the current draft. "We cannot support those measures, which in fact aim to isolate Iran from the outside world, including the isolation of the people who are charged with leading negotiations on the nuclear program," Lavrov was quoted as saying in the Russian media.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack dismissed the notion that Russia would block a resolution. "All that means to me is that they have some changes to the draft that's on the table. That's certainly understandable," he told reporters in response to Lavrov's comments, adding that there would be a period of alternating "hope and despair" as negotiations play out.
The draft resolution, circulated last week by the British, French and Germans to the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, calls for a ban on travel and the freezing of assets of Iranian officials associated with the Iranian nuclear program, as well as other measures designed to curb Iran's ability to obtain weapons of mass destruction.
The draft allows for some exceptions with regard to the Bushehr site, allowing for supplies and construction to continue at Bushehr as well as exempting travel bans on officials working on that project.
Russia has invested $1 billion dollars in the project and is reluctant to see the project stifled by sanctions.
Russia's Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov also spoke out, saying yesterday that Russia does not believe Iran's nuclear program is for weapons purposes.
A central part of the United States-led effort for sanctions against Iran is the assertion that the Islamic republic is bent on using its nuclear energy program as a front for obtaining weapons of mass destruction.
American and European diplomats, however, dismissed Ivanov's comments as public posturing with difficult negotiations looming.
McCormack denied that the United States has heard any such sentiment directly from the Russians. "We haven't heard anything from the Russians or any other member of the P5+1, for that matter, that gives us pause [that a resolution will be passed]," McCormack said.
"These will be very hard, very long negotiations with the Russians," said one European diplomat, "but we haven't heard these types of comments from the Russians in our recent discussions."
"I don't think [these comments] will be an obstacle to passing a resolution," a State Department official told ABC News.
Despite the tense negotiations, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that U.S. expects a resolution to be passed before Thanksgiving.