Suspect charged after Vancouver car ramming leaves 11 dead    Suspect in killing of general claims he was paid by Ukraine    North Korea confirms troop deployment to Russia for first time    Rock & Roll Hall of Fame picks Outkast but not Oasis    400-800 year old giant coral colony discovered within AMAALA waters in the Red Sea    Makkah police arrest Yemeni and Egyptian suspects of fake Hajj campaign    Kafalah grants 1,900 loan guarantees worth over SR4.8 billion to SMEs during 1Q 2025    Council of Senior Scholars reaffirms performing Hajj without a permit is a sinful act    HR Ministry launches 'Ajeer Al-Hajj' service for seasonal work during Hajj 2025    stc reports strong first-quarter 2025 results with 11% rise in net profit    King and Crown Prince offer condolence to Iranian president over the deadly port explosion    Saudi Awwal Bank records SR2.1 billion net profit after zakat and income tax for 1Q25    Virgin Atlantic celebrates one month of nonstop service between London and Riyadh    Al Ahli cruise past Buriram into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Duran leads Al Nassr past Yokohama Marinos into AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi orchestra to perform at Sydney Opera House in May    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Drive for new Iran sanctions seen long and hard
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 09 - 08 - 2008

The United States and its Western allies are pushing for a fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran but negotiations will drag on for months as Russia and China work hard to delay and water down any new measures.
US and British officials said on Wednesday that six major powers had agreed to consider new sanctions against Iran after Tehran refused once again to freeze its nuclear activities, but Russia contradicted this, saying there was no firm agreement.
Analysts and diplomats from Security Council member states said the Western powers would most likely get a fourth sanctions resolution on Iran through the sharply divided UN Security Council. But it will not be an easy process.
With a US election in November, if a new resolution goes through, there may be a new US president in office when the council votes on it. Analysts also expect that it will most likely be a moderate toughening of previous penalties.
Iran's oil and gas industries remain off limits.
Ray Takeyh, a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said negotiations will be long and protracted as veto-wielding council members Russia and China seek to balance their growing frustration with Iran with major commercial interests in the world's fourth biggest oil producer.
“I don't think it will be a significant ratcheting up of the sanctions,” he said. “A few new names, new companies” on the UN blacklist.
Richard Grenell, spokesman for the US mission to the United Nations, reiterated that Washington was ready to move quickly: “We have no plans to delay Security Council action.”
Slow negotiations might be good news for those hoping for lower oil prices, which rose by $1 per barrel to $126 on Sunday after Grenell announced the new sanctions drive.
Some analysts and diplomats argue that slow negotiations and weak sanctions could send the wrong signal to Israel, which is widely believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal and thinks of a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat. It might decide diplomacy has failed and turn to military force.
‘No stomach for war'
Despite repeated US and Israeli hints that air strikes could be used to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, Mehrzad Boroujerdi, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, doubts it will come to that.
“I don't think anyone really has the stomach for that,” Boroujerdi said.
Tehran rejects Western allegations that it is developing atomic weapons and says its nuclear ambitions are limited to the peaceful generation of electricity and refuses to halt the program.
But Iran began its program to enrich uranium during its long war against Iraq in the 1980s, keeping it hidden until a group of dissident exiles revealed its existence in 2002.
George Perkovich, a non-proliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank, said the problem with moving slowly with further sanctions is that it gives Tehran more time to develop its nuclear technology.
“The more people wait, the more enrichment the Iranians do,” he said.
But Russia wants to keep talking with Iran about a July 19 offer it and the other permanent Security Council members - China, Britain, France, the United States - and Germany made: an incentives package in exchange for Iran halting enrichment.
The Western powers had wanted a clear answer to their offer by early this week. Instead they got a noncommittal one-page letter, not an unambiguous reply, US officials said.
But this does not bother Russia. Moscow's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin said on Wednesday he would have liked a clear reply, but added, “We haven't set any deadlines ourselves for their response and there is ongoing dialogue.”
Foreign ministers from the six countries will meet in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to discuss next steps on Iran. If they agree to pursue sanctions, it would take at least another month to draft, analysts said.
The first sanctions resolution was approved by the council in December 2006 and the second in March 2007. It took nearly a year for the third to be approved in March 2008, and analysts say that it was a mere tightening of the screws from the second resolution - essentially more travel bans and asset freezes.
But some doubt that even tougher measures would move Iran.
“I'm not sure that more robust sanctions would change the mind-set in Iran,” said Boroujerdi. “Iran has a strong hand, the price of oil being what it is, gives them a nice cushion.” - Reuters __


Clic here to read the story from its source.