Translated material
No time for sanctions in January
Iran received a reprieve thanks to one of the Security Council members
The UN Security Council will not tighten sanctions against Iran until the end of January for its refusal to suspend nuclear development. The reason is that China opposes tightening sanctions, and it chairs the Security Council this month. However, in February, when the reins of power pass to France, the situation will certainly change. After all, the United States and the European Union insist on tightening pressure on Tehran.The meeting of the international “six” on the Iranian nuclear issue (Russia, the USA, China, Great Britain, France and Germany) that took place on January 16 in New York confirmed the persistence of disagreements in the ranks of the world community. China doubts the effectiveness of the new sanctions, and Russia is not enthusiastic. In 2006-2008, the UN Security Council adopted three resolutions on sanctions, but they did not force Tehran to suspend its nuclear program or at least make it transparent.
As Deputy Head of the Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Ryabkov told reporters in New York now, “we will look at what additional measures can be developed in the interests of stimulating a political and diplomatic solution to this problem.” “This, I emphasize, does not mean that we have decided anything in terms of adopting sanctions,” the diplomat added. According to him, the meeting, which opened “a new chapter in this saga,” lasted two and a half hours.
But the Chinese representative did not talk to reporters. Beijing was the only one that delegated a diplomat of not very high rank to the meeting - just an employee of the UN mission. Observers immediately saw this as China's reluctance to address the issue of sanctions. Earlier in January, Chinese Permanent Representative to the UN Zhang Yesui said that “now is not the right time for new sanctions” as “diplomatic efforts are being made to build bridges and overcome differences” over Tehran’s nuclear program.
“China is more closely tied to this country economically than other participants in international discussions on Iran,” Nina Mamedova, head of the Iran sector at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, explained to Vremya Novostei. She recalled that in November 2009, the Chinese were offered additional lucrative agreements to develop Iranian oil and gas fields: “Moreover, these proposals came a couple of days before the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report on Iran was made public.” Let us recall that the IAEA report, which criticized Iran for insufficient cooperation, is the main argument for supporters of tightening sanctions.
Our interlocutor added that “China needs energy resources, since it was less affected by the global crisis”: “Iran, with its excellent quality oil and gas, is a reliable source for supplying China with energy resources. The Chinese are also increasingly interested in Iran as a market for their goods, given its steadily growing gross domestic product.”
The United States and Western European powers are insisting on tightening pressure on Tehran. “We will continue to search for a negotiated solution, but consideration of other further measures has also begun,” EU political director Robert Cooper said at the New York meeting. He accused the Iranians of not fulfilling agreements already reached, including on the additional enrichment of Iranian uranium outside the country (in particular, in Russia) with its subsequent use in the Tehran research reactor for the production of medical isotopes. “In the fall, the Iranians tentatively agreed to the project of enriching their uranium outside the country, but then they hardened their position, clearly for domestic political reasons: the ruling wing of the clergy was afraid of weakening its position by making concessions to the world community,” notes Nina Mamedova. According to her, “Russia still believes that sanctions will not solve the problem, and diplomatic skill is required to convince Iran to make significant progress.” “For the ruling Iranian elite, in the context of an intense political struggle that is flaring up, it is important that an agreement with the international community can be presented as a mutually beneficial solution, and not as a victory of the world over Iran,” the VN expert emphasizes.
The continuing disagreements in the “six” can also be evidenced by the fact that the meeting in New York two days before it was suddenly canceled for unknown reasons, but then convened anyway. The date of the next meeting of the “six” is also unclear: Western sources report only that the participants have already developed “plans for contacts, and in the near future.”