Thaindian News

By Arun Kumar
Washington, May 18 (IANS) In a sharp rebuff to Iran’s nuclear fuel swap deal with Brazil and Turkey, the US Tuesday announced that it has reached an agreement with other major powers, including Russia and China, to impose new sanctions on Iran.

“We have reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation of both Russia and China,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“We plan to circulate that draft resolution to the entire Security Council today,” she said announcing the outcome of talks among the five permanent UN Security Council members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the US - as well as Germany.

“And let me say, Mr. Chairman, I think this announcement is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken in Tehran over the last few days as any we could provide.”

The announcement came just a day after Iran said it would ship roughly half of its nuclear fuel to Turkey, in a bid to assuage western concerns about its nuclear programme.

In a guarded reaction to the deal, the White House Monday termed it as a positive step, but claimed it was less than what the Iranian regime had agreed to last year. “The words and deeds of Iran have never coincided,” it added.

At the Senate panel meeting Tuesday, Clinton acknowledged the efforts of Brazilian and Turkish leaders, but said: “There are a number of unanswered questions regarding the announcement coming from Tehran.”

The six major powers that have joined together to pressure Iran to give up its uranium enrichment programme “are proceeding to rally the international community on behalf of a strong sanctions resolution that will, in our view, send an unmistakable message about what is expected from Iran”.

Clinton gave no details about the sanctions to be included in the resolution. If it were to pass the Security Council, it would be the fourth round of sanctions intended to induce Iran to give up any ambitions to build a nuclear weapon.

Iran has said its nuclear development programme is intended to produce civilian energy, but American and European officials says Tehran has not complied with Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations for permitting unfettered inspections to all of its nuclear facilities.