U.N. council vote on Iran sanctions delayed again
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - France and Britain have againdelayed a U.N. Security Council vote on a third round ofsanctions against Iran over its nuclear program in an effort towin over sceptics, diplomats said on Friday.
A sanctions draft resolution was being put into its finalform on Friday, one diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
A U.N. spokeswoman said the Security Council would meet todiscuss Iran at 11 a.m. (4 p.m. British time) on Monday anddiplomats said Britain and France would call a vote on theresolution.
U.S. and British diplomats had earlier said the vote wouldprobably be held on Saturday but had left open the possibilitythat it could be pushed back a few days to allow time for morenegotiations with four reluctant council members.
The resolution will tighten existing sanctions, includingtravel bans and asset freezes, on Iran because of its refusalto halt uranium enrichment, which creates fuel for nuclearpower stations but also for atomic weapons, as demanded by thecouncil in three previous resolutions.
Iran denies Western allegations that it is amassing thecapability to produce nuclear weapons and says its atomicambitions are limited to peacefully generating electricity.Tehran has said the case for sanctions lacks any legal basisand that it has no intention to comply with the resolution.
The five permanent council members -- the United States,Britain, France, China and Russia -- and Germany, which is noton the council, agreed in Berlin on January 22 on a draft textoutlining a third round of sanctions against Tehran.
Washington had hoped for a swift vote on the sanctions textbut negotiations have dragged on for over a month, mainly dueto resistance from four nonpermanent members of the 15-nationcouncil -- South Africa, Libya, Vietnam and Indonesia.
The resolution is backed by the five permanent members andsix others, meaning its adoption is not in doubt.
UNANIMITY MAY BE DIFFICULT
Two previous sanctions resolutions were approvedunanimously in December 2006 and March 2007. Diplomats say theEuropean co-sponsors of the resolution are not optimistic thatthe third one will have the support of all 15 council members.
But they will be using the weekend to try to win over thefour sceptics, which diplomats say have a variety ofreservations about the draft resolution. They could voteagainst the resolution or abstain.
"We're going to make some small changes to the resolutionto try to address some of the concerns," the diplomat said."Vietnam (submitted) some amendments yesterday and it'svariations of those we've incorporated."
British Ambassador John Sawers told reporters on Thursdaythat he wanted the resolution to have "as much support as ispossible." But even if there are abstentions or "no" votes, itwill be legally binding once adopted, Sawers said.
Two diplomats told Reuters "progress has been made" inpersuading the Vietnamese to vote for the resolution but addedthat the British, French and German co-sponsors of theresolution had not received a firm commitment from Hanoi.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy met his South Africancounterpart Thabo Mbeki on Friday during an official visit tothe country and diplomats said the two men discussed Iran.
It was too early to say if the meeting had persuaded theSouth Africans to back the resolution, they said. Pretoriavoted for the second round of sanctions in March 2007.
"There will be meetings over the weekend and discussionsbetween the various capitals ahead of the vote," said onediplomat. "We'll have to see how those discussions turn out."
Libya's ambassador, Giadalla Ettalhi, indicated on Mondaythat he would probably vote against the resolution. Indonesia'senvoy says he is not convinced more sanctions is a good idea.
(Additional reporting by Patrick Worsnip; editing byMohammad Zargham)