U.N. Response to Iranian Defiance May Take ‘Weeks'
Benny Avni
February 23, 2007
New York Sun
Original Source: http://www.nysun.com/article/49161

Diplomats here said yesterday that the arduous process of negotiating a response to Iran's defiance of the U.N. Security Council's directive to halt nuclear activity will take weeks — and signaled that any punishment will be mild at best.
The 15-member body received an International Atomic Energy Agency report that determined that Tehran failed to comply with the council's demand that it suspend uranium enrichment activity.
Meaningful economic sanctions are expected to be blocked at the council by Iran's allies. Those include veto-wielding members Russia and China, and South Africa, which will assume the rotating council presidency in March.
However, the new IAEA report may lead to a tightening of unilateral economic measures against Iran. America has already taken such measures, as has the European Union, to a lesser degree.
European diplomats spoke of a dual track approach: coaxing Iran back to the negotiating table while tightening sanctions if the mullahs continue to defy the Security Council.
Imposing economic measures beyond what the council has agreed upon and planning to tighten such sanctions even further shows the resolution by the European Union to follow on both tracks, the German ambassador to the United Nations, Thomas Matussek, told The New York Sun. Not just on the soft track, but also on the other.
But other diplomats noted that several European countries, including Germany and Italy, maintain considerable commercial ties with Iran. Even as Iran remains defiant, the E.U. may therefore fail to agree on measures that would significantly hurt Iran's economy.
I know of nobody in Washington that is planning military action on Iran, Prime Minister Blair of Britain told the British Broadcasting Corp. But earlier this week, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis joined the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Persian Gulf in warship buildup seen by some as a reminder that the military option is not off the table.
I am deeply concerned that the Iranian government did not meet the deadline set by the Security Council, Secretary-General Ban said yesterday during a two-day visit to Vienna-based U.N. agencies, including the IAEA. The Iranian nuclear issue has great implications for peace and stability, as well as for the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
According to the IAEA report, rather than freezing its enrichment program by February 21, as the council demanded two months ago, Iran has expanded it, preparing an industrial scale production of enriched uranium. Iran also declined to allow the return of IAEA inspectors into the country. Secretary of State Rice said America would use its available channels to lean on Tehran. The undersecretary of state for political affairs, Nicholas Burns, is expected to begin negotiations on Monday with counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia.
It would be obvious, to us at least, that we do need to ratchet up the pressure, an American ambassador to the United Nations, Jackie Sanders, said. Iran needs to see an international community that stays coordinated and showing common purpose to have them stop what they're doing in developing nuclear weapons.
European diplomats said a new resolution may include new sanctions banning international travel by Tehran officials and perhaps stopping the sale of missiles and other weapon-related materials. But, as one diplomat who spoke on the condition of anonymity said, council members see Russia as the key to what any new measures may add up to.
The goal is not to have a resolution or impose sanctions, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, told reporters.
We probably will need a new resolution, China's ambassador to the United Nations, Wang Guangya, told the Sun.
A European diplomat who briefed reporters Tuesday on the condition of anonymity said reaching an agreement on the new resolution may take weeks or even longer.