The U.N. Security Council has unanimously approved a resolution imposing sanctions against for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment.
The sanctions ban the supply of nuclear-related technology and materials, freeze certain assets and limit travel for specific individuals:
The resolution orders all countries to ban the supply of specified materials and technology that could contribute to 's nuclear and missile programs. It also imposes an asset freeze on key companies and people in the country's nuclear and missile programs named on a U.N. list.If refuses to comply, the resolution warns that the council will adopt further nonmilitary sanctions.
The resolution was watered down several times over the last couple of months to meet objections from Russia and China. Both China and Russia have strong financial ties with . Russia is building a nuclear power station in the country and China has significant oil interests in .
According to the BBC, President Bush and Russian President Putin discussed the issue before the vote, agreeing on the importance of a unified stance. The acting U.S. ambassador to the UN said the resolution "sent a strong warning that there would be serious repercussions to 's continued defiance of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."
The world continues to dither while continues to make progress in its efforts to become a nuclear power.
In October 2003, committed to Britain, France and Germany that it would suspend all uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities. In July 2004, backtracked from its pledge and resumed building nuclear centrifuges, which can be used to enrich uranium for use in bombs.
Prior to resuming building centrifuges last summer, said it would do so in retaliation for a resolution from the U.N. nuclear watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which deplored 's failure to co-operate fully with inspectors from the IAEA.
In September 2005, disregarding the ian threats to begin enriching uranium, the IAEA approved a resolution requiring to be reported to the Security Council for failing to convince the agency its nuclear program was entirely peaceful.
Unfortunately, the IAEA's resolution did not contain a time frame for the referral. It wasn't until February 2006 that was actually referred to the Security Council.
's reaction was predictable. The deputy head of 's Security Council, said his country would "immediately" retaliate:
He said that after approval by the ian council, would stop honoring an agreement with the IAEA allowing its inspectors broad powers to monitor and probe Tehran's nuclear activities and would start work on full-scale uranium enrichment — an activity that can produce the fissile core of nuclear warheads.[. . .]
Vaeidi on Friday said referral would mean his country would no longer consider an internationally supported plan to move his country's enrichment to Russia as a way of depriving direct access to the technology. On Saturday, however, he said his country was still considering a response to the Russian plan.
It took ten long months for the United Nations to pass today's resolution. And that was in the face of admitting in March that now admits that 's October 2003 agreement with the Europeans was nothing more than a ruse to buy time for the mullahocracy to continue to pursue its secret nuclear program, which had successfully concealed for two decades.
And what do we get out of this new Security Council resolution? Based upon the press reports we get nothing more than a piece of paper telling it's been bad. A meaningless condemnation, which specifically assures the tahat the document can't be considered a threat of force if the ian mullahocracy continues in its pursuit of its nuclear program. Hardly a week goes by when some ian official doesn't defiantly state that nothing will prevent from becoming a nuclear power.
In order for diplomacy to have a chance of persuading to give up nuclear ambitions, must pay a price for staying the course. Further dithering will only encourage the ian mullahocracy.
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