U.N. Security Council scheduled a vote Saturday on a resolution that would impose sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program, culminating two months of tough negotiations aimed at getting Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment. It wasn't clear whether there would be unanimous support, with the votes of Russia, China and Qatar still in question. In a final attempt to win Russian support, key European nations circulated a new text of a U.N. resolution late Friday, the Associated Press reported. Russia and China, which both have strong commercial ties to Tehran, have pressed for a step-by-step approach to sanctions. By contrast, the United States has pushed for very tough sanctions, with Britain and France taking a slightly softer view. Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said the changes in the final text "increase the chances of agreement tomorrow." "Actually, this is a very nice step forward," Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia's U.N. Mission, told two reporters after the meeting. China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya said the Europeans "tried to build consensus, but we will have to see by tomorrow morning whether consensus is there."
