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| 6 Powers Make Little Progress on Iran's Resolution |
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The consultation among the six major countries on the elements of a new Security Council resolution imposing sanctions on Iran made little progress on Tuesday, diplomats said. Ambassadors of the six countries of the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany huddled behind closed doors at the United Nations Tuesday afternoon to continue their discussion of elements of a new sanctions draft resolution. "We have good discussion on general elements and approach," US Ambassador Alejandro Daniel Wolff told reporters after the meeting. "We remain committed to the early adoption of the resolution." British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry stressed that the diplomatic solution is still possible as long as Iran agreed to go back to the negotiations. "The diplomatic door is open but it is very much down to the government in Tehran," he told reporters, adding "we are on train talking about language. We don't yet have a text, but we have been looking at elements." Meanwhile, Parry also said that the new draft resolution will not be distributed until the governments of the six countries reached agreement on the elements. Diplomats who said on condition of anonymity told Xinhua that no obvious progress has been made during the latest talks. He said that the issue of elements may be referred to the capitals of the six countries. The new resolution will, in accordance with the current elements, impose more severe sanctions on Iran in terms of travel ban, embargo of arms imports and exports, and stiffer economic sanctions including a ban on export guarantees to Iran. Meanwhile, Iran on Tuesday denied comments from the UN atomic agency chief that Tehran had casually slowed down the uranium enrichment activities, saying no change has been made. "There has been no change in Iran's legitimate activities aimed at producing fuel, it's continuing its natural trend," Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told a press conference. Iran's state atomic energy organization also stressed Tuesday that "as planned, our enrichment activities in Natanz is continuing", the official IRNA news agency reported. Uranium enrichment work is the key process for nuclear fuel production, or nuclear weapon. The United States, along with some other Western countries, has been accusing Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of civilian nuclear programs. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Feb. 22 in the report filed in Vienna to the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors and the UN Security Council that "Iran has not suspended its enrichment-related activities." The UN Security Council passed a resolution on Dec. 23, 2006 demanding that Iran suspend uranium enrichment in 60 days. However, Iran has failed to do so and claimed its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only. (Xinhua News Agency March 7, 2007) |
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