Russia, China Block Iran Sanctions
NEW YORK - U.S.-hosted high-level talks on imposing new sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program opened Friday, although there was little sign the Bush administration and its European allies can convince Russia and China to drop opposition to such a move.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers from the other four permanent members of the U.N. Security Council—Britain, China, France and Russia—and Germany met at a New York hotel after days of contentious talks on the matter.
With prospects bleak for producing consensus on a new sanctions resolution among that group, Rice was to meet immediately afterward in a smaller session with her British, French and German colleagues to discuss plans for addition U.S. and European Union penalties on Iran, officials said.
Before the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made clear that Moscow wants to see a U.N. agency report on Tehran’s past suspicious nuclear work before considering new sanctions.
Lavrov and Rice exchanged sharp words at a luncheon Wednesday on the subject. Rice pushed for tough new sanctions to pressure Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, and Lavrov said Moscow wanted to give nuclear inspectors time to do their job, according to the Russian minister and U.S. and European officials present.
Two U.N. resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran have failed to persuade it to suspend uranium enrichment. Tehran insists its program is aimed at producing energy for civilian use but the U.S., its European allies and many others fear the program’s real goal is nuclear weapons.
In a Tuesday address at the U.N. General Assembly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the nuclear issue is “closed” and vowed to defy any U.N. Security Council move for more sanctions.
On Thursday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that China as well as Russia refuses to discuss possible new sanctions against Iran until the International Atomic Energy Agency reports on Tehran past activities at the end of the year.
“I think that it would be very difficult to convince the Russians and the Chinese before,” he said. “We’ll do our best to convince them, but honestly, the position was difficult to tackle.”
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei and Iranian officials agreed in July that Tehran would answer questions from agency experts by December on more than two decades of nuclear activity—most of it secret until revealed more than four years ago. IAEA technical officials returned to Tehran this week to start probing outstanding questions, some with possible weapons applications.
Lavrov said Thursday night that the IAEA’s progress with Iran “is obvious.”
Security Council measures must be proportionate “and commensurate with what Iran is actually doing—and as long as Iran is doing something which satisfies part of the demands of the Security Council, I believe we have to caliber our action in the Security Council and elsewhere,” he said.
Lavrov’s comments to ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti earlier Thursday were stronger.
“Interference by means of any sanctions would undermine the International Atomic Energy Agency’s efforts,” Lavrov was quoted as saying. “The U.N. Security Council measures on Iran should be balanced and respond to the steps taken by Tehran itself that obliged to answer all questions.”
Rice and her top aides want to capitalize on international frustration with Ahmadinejad for his recent remarks. But Lavrov said the U.S. wanted to ignore the IAEA—as it has in the past—but “we want to rely on IAEA expertise.”
The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Zalmay Khalilzad, said Thursday the agreement with the IAEA “cannot be used as a shield to protect Iran from its violation, lack of cooperation, lack of implementation of the demands of the Security Council” on the nuclear issue.
Khalilzad said that Iran’s ability to enrich uranium to a level usable for weapons is a “threat to international security and stability. It is one of the most important, perhaps one of the defining issues of our time.”
A united diplomatic front, he said, increases the chances that diplomacy will succeed. “Those who will not cooperate on the diplomacy of this, with regard to pressure on Iran, sanctions on Iran, bear some responsibility should diplomacy, God forbid, fail.”
(AP)
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Commie Bastards!
September 28th, 2007 at 7:15 amPatton and MacArthur were right.
September 28th, 2007 at 7:28 amOf course they’re blocking sanctions. Both of them are making money off of Iran, and both of them get to continue placing their newest weapon systems in front of American interventions to try them out. The Russians sent their newest anti-tank weapons to Iraq before our invasion after “selling them to Syria” (read: laundered them through Syria). The Chinese built a fiber optic-based air defense system in Iraq during the UN’s pointless sanctions there. Now Russia has sold its newest air-defense missles to Iran and is in the process of doubling the size of Iran’s air force.
They have nothing to lose by blocking sanctions. They are still fighting the Cold War, whether we are or not.
September 28th, 2007 at 7:30 amWhy are we still in the UN? We pay 85% of the UN funding so that China and Russia can obstruct us? This makes no sense at all. Get out of the UN now!!
September 28th, 2007 at 7:43 amHell maybe we should bomb them too…
September 28th, 2007 at 8:03 amOne Shot
Why are we still in the UN?
They were voted permanent members with Veto power after WWII by Truman along with France and the UK. The reasons for founding the UN were misguided. Incorrectly assuming that just being a nation was good enough.
Stalin sacrificed his people to NAZI Slaughter to distract Hitler on another front. This gave us time to get forces into Europe. That was the deal. Today we see the consequences with the “One World Government” The One World economic plan of the New World Order is the milk the USA dry.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:11 am“Lavrov said Thursday night that the IAEA’s progress with Iran “is obvious.”
To whom? Mr Lavrov has obviously not seen any Sharon Stone movies? Here’s where the “willing suspension of disbelief” line fits.
Doveryay, no proveryay.
September 28th, 2007 at 8:16 amRead this to find out more about what’s going on:
http://www.red-knight.net/rattling_sabres_and_squeaky_wheels.html
September 28th, 2007 at 8:33 amOr better still:
Kogda den’gi govoryat, togda pravda molchit.
Translation: When money talks, then truth stays silent.
September 28th, 2007 at 9:02 amOne suspects that Russia and China would be quite in favor of
September 28th, 2007 at 9:14 amIran eliminating four or five of our most important cities with
their nukes, delivered by stealth.
The economic damage to the USA would be large enough and probably last
long enough to allow Russia and China to get to the top of the
heap.
The fact that Iran would be destroyed by a retaliatory strike would
not trouble them, in fact they would probably favor that too,
as their populations are also “infidels” and would come in for the
same sort of treatment later on.
The KGB term was “useful idiots”.
I think they love that we are embrioled in Iraq, and they would love to see us embrioled in Iran as well
September 28th, 2007 at 9:45 amThe inspectors need more time to do their job….I have heard that before..a few times..
September 28th, 2007 at 10:52 amThe Commie “Stall Tactic” kept us out of Iraq too long, enabling Saddam to move his WMD and to organize an insurgency.
UN indeed?
Screw you Commies!
Time to get off the pot Mr. President.
Wipe Iran’s face with the thorny stick.
September 28th, 2007 at 11:15 am