The UN Security Council on Monday passed a third round of economic sanctions against Iran in an effort to convince Tehran to stop uranium-enrichment activities. The 15-member council met on Friday to discuss the Iran resolution, but decided to postpone it until Monday at the request of some member states-including South Africa-that wished to contact their capitals for guidance on the vote. All five permanent Security Council members-the United States, China, Britain, France and Russia-agreed on the resolution, while three temporary member states-Indonesia, South Africa, and Libya-initially had objections to the text. In the end, however, all member states reached consensus and passed the resolution. Introduced by Britain and France, the Iran resolution, obtained by the Saudi Press Agency, calls on states “to exercise vigilance and restraint” on travels of those involved in “providing support for Iran's proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or for the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems.” The resolution would also prevent countries from the “supply, sale, or transfer” of “flag vessels or aircraft” to Iran, and call on them to avoid financial transactions with Iranian businesses and to inspect Iranian cargo and vessels. When inspection of cargo takes place, the resolution requires states to submit a report to the Security Council within five working days on the details of the inspection. The resolution also states that both Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must “resolve all outstanding issues concerning Iran's nuclear program.” It also requires the IAEA chief to send another report in 90 days “on whether Iran has established full and sustained suspension of all [nuclear] activities.” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Zalmay Khalilzad said Monday's resolution was an “important further step to make it clear to Iran that as long as it doesn't come into compliance with the demands of the Security Council, there will be consequences.” While the resolution puts pressure on Iran, Khalilzad said it also “gave us all an opportunity to make it clear to the people of Iran and to the rest of the world that the international community has no problem with Iran having a civilian nuclear power program.”
