Dec 12, 2007 9:24 pm US/Pacific
U.N.: No New Sanctions Against Iran Until 2008
UNITED NATIONS (AP) ―
The U.N. Security Council will not take up new sanctions
against Iran until early
next year because of serious differences between the U.S.
and those who want tough measures and Russia
and China
who don't, U.N. diplomats said Wednesday.
The delay in the council's consideration of a
third sanctions resolution followed a 90-minute telephone discussion Tuesday of
political directors from the U.S.,
Russia, China, Britain,
France
and Germany
that highlighted the divide among the key players.
"I think it unlikely, unfortunately, that
we will be able to make progress during 2007," Britain's U.N. Ambassador John
Sauers told reporters. "We will come back to this issue in 2008."
China's
U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya agreed, saying there isn't much time left in
December and discussions are still going on in capitals.
"I think it's more likely that it will
come in January to the Security Council," he told The Associated Press.
Wang said last week that the new U.S.
intelligence finding that Iran
halted development of a nuclear bomb four years ago raised questions about new
sanctions against Tehran.
"I think we all start from the presumption that now things have
changed," he said.
Russia
and China,
both veto-wielding council members and allies of Iran, have grudgingly approved two
sets of limited U.N.
sanctions to
pressure Iran
to suspend uranium enrichment. But the Kremlin has bristled at the U.S. push for
tougher measures, saying they would only widen the rift with Iran.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
CBS News Interactive: Nuclear Armed World
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
