UNITED NATIONS, March 3: The United Nations Security Council on Monday adopted a third set of sanctions regime against Iran with a vote of 14-0 demanding that Tehran halt its uranium enrichment activities.
Indonesia, one of the 10 non-permanent members of the 15-member Security Council, abstained saying it was not convinced that more sanctions were warranted against Iran, which in its opinion was cooperating with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).Iran rejected the resolution saying it was pursuing “its rights in accordance with Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) under the supervision of UN watchdog atomic agency (IAEA)”.
The five permanent council members --- the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France --- and Germany, which is not on the council, agreed in Berlin on Jan 22 on a draft text outlining a third round of sanctions against Tehran.
Libya, Vietnam and South Africa who had expressed serious reservations over the new sanctions resolution eventually voted in favour of the resolution in order to preserve what they termed “the council’s unity”.
The resolution 1803 banned for the first time trade with Iran in goods that have both civilian and military uses. It would introduce financial monitoring on two banks with suspected links to proliferation activities --- Bank Melli and Bank Saderat.
The Ambassador of Iran to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazee, in his remarks before the vote observed “in reality, people across the globe have now lost their trust in the Security Council and consider the actions of the council as result of political pressure exerted by a few powers to advance their own agenda.”
Libya’s UN ambassador said that Israel’s nuclear weapons programme should also be examined by the international community and deplored the Israeli attitude.
The resolution would freeze the assets of about a dozen companies and a dozen individuals with links to Iran’s nuclear or ballistic missile programmes. It would require countries to “exercise vigilance” and report the travel or transit of those individuals.
It also imposes a travel ban on several individuals linked to Iran’s nuclear effort.
The resolution, however, welcomes Iran’s agreement with the IAEA to resolve all outstanding issues about its past nuclear programme “and progress in this regard”.
It reiterates that the package of incentives offered by the five permanent council nations and Germany in June 2006 remains on the table if Iran suspends enrichment.
