UNITED NATIONS: U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton insists on sanctions if Iran does not halt uranium enrichment by midnight August 31

American UN ambassador John Bolton on Wednesday (August 31) took a tough line with the foreign ministers of Russia and China over sanctions against Iran. Bolton insisted that if Iran does not comply with the midnight deadline of halting uranium enrichment the U.S. will demand that sanctions are imposed. Iran faces the risk of sanctions after a U.N. nuclear watchdog report on Thursday (August 31) likely to find that Tehran has ignored a deadline to halt an atomic fuel programme Western leaders say could lead to bombs. Ahead of the Aug. 31 deadline, Tehran vowed "never" to scrap the project and dedicated one of its cornerstones, a heavy-water production plant, for good measure. It also continues to enrich uranium in small quantities at a pilot plant, diplomats say. Said Bolton: "If they [Iran] have not suspended all uranium enrichment activities, they will not be in compliance with the resolution. And at that point the steps that the foreign ministers have agreed upon previously, including the foreign ministers of Russia and China, we should begin to talk about how to implement those steps." Diplomats said Washington felt the 30-day grace period given Iran was a fair chance for it to change its mind and if it did not, veto-holding Russia and China could be won over to backing Council sanctions once the deadline expired. But Iran's deft Aug. 22 reply to an offer of incentives not to pursue enrichment, hinting it could curb the work as a result of talks but not as a precondition, is sorely testing the shaky united front of six big powers handling Tehran's case. Russia and China have called for a return to talks while key Council allies of Washington, Britain and France, have dampened U.S. predictions of a swift resort to sanctions next month. Bolton made the U.S.'s intentions clear, saying, "We've said repeatedly that we expect that no later than August 31, pursuant to Security Council resolution 1696 that the Iranians will suspend all uranium enrichment-related activity. Now if they haven't done that by August 31 we've also said repeatedly, and the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council in Germany have agreed, that we will come to the Security Council to seek sanctions." The U.S. favours a new U.N. resolution which would enable the Security Council to impose sanctions or military force, should Tehran not abide by the resolution.

ITN Source | August 31, 2006

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