Report: U.S.-backed UN draft would ban missile and nuclear sales to Iran
By Shlomo Shamir
October 25, 2006
Haaretz
Original Source: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/778880.html


VIENNA - The United States, France, Britain and Germany have completed a draft resolution pushing the United Nations Security Council to ban all missile and nuclear technology sales to Iran and to end most of the the International Atomic Energy Agency's technical aid programs, diplomats said Tuesday.

The UN diplomats said that the Western proposal would also commit UN member countries to deny entry to Iranian officials involved in developing the country's missile or nuclear programs.

The draft will be presented to Russia and China later in the week, although Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has already said his country opposes imposing sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. Russia has full veto power on Security Council decisions and could foil any attempt to impose sanctions.

Iran is unlikely to be able to develop a nuclear bomb before 2015 the chief of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency said on Tuesday. 

His estimate falls within the 3-10 year range of forecasts 
given by most international experts. 

It is difficult to give an exact estimate of the time, BND 
head Ernst Uhrlau told a security conference organized by the 
Welt am Sonntag newspaper. 

According to the current rate of enrichment, the Islamic Republic will not have sufficient amounts of highly enriched uranium with which to build atomic weapons before 2010. For a nuclear bomb we are looking at around 2015, said Uhrlau. 

Iran is OPEC's second biggest oil exporter and denies accusations from the United States and other western nations that it wants to make nuclear weapons. 

Tehran is in a standoff with the international community over its program to develop nuclear technology which it says it needs to meet booming energy needs.

Talks between Iran and the European Union to explore a compromise on enrichment to avoid UN sanctions have collapsed. 

Iran is hoping Russia and China, both major trade partners 
and Security Council veto holders, will prevent the United 
States from pushing through anything more than largely symbolic 
sanctions. 

Earlier this month the UN Security Council voted unanimously to impose financial and weapons sanctions on North Korea after it conducted a nuclear test.