"They feel that for the first time in the world developing countries are able to defend their rights in the world arena without resorting to the major powers and that is very hard for them," he said after a meeting of government ministers.
The United States has prepared a draft resolution and circulated it at the UN Security Council to gather support for a new round of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program. The 15-member council held a meeting behind the closed doors in New York for the first reading of the draft resolution. The sanctions are reportedly to target Iran's banking system, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, cargo ships and the import of conventional arms.
The 10-page draft also calls for international inspection of vessels suspected of carrying cargo related to “Iran's nuclear or missile programs.” The text, Western diplomats say, was the result of a series of compromises between the United States and its three European allies, which had pushed for much tougher sanctions against Tehran, and Russia and China, which sought to dilute them.
Few of the proposed measures are new. But Western diplomats said the end result was probably the best they could have hoped for, given China's and Russia's determination to avoid measures against Iran. The draft has the backing of all five veto-wielding council members.
The decision to circulate the resolution to the 15-nation Security Council was a tacit rebuff to a deal brokered by Brazil and Turkey and made public on Monday in which Iran agreed to send some enriched uranium abroad in return for fuel rods for a medical research reactor. U.S. officials regard that deal as a maneuver by Iran to delay more U.N. sanctions.
Brazil's U.N. ambassador made clear her country was unhappy that the United States and its allies appeared to ignore the deal that her country has described as a major breakthrough in the long-running nuclear standoff between Iran and the West.
"Brazil is not engaging in any discussion on a draft at this point because we feel that there is a new situation," Ambassador Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti told reporters outside the Security Council chamber. "There was an agreement yesterday which is a very important one."
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said he did not sign the text, stressing that Washington has decided to provide its own draft resolution. He also warned other ambassadors against adopting the new draft resolution and called for world powers to push for diplomatic talks on the issue.
CHINA WELCOMES NUCLEAR FUEL DEAL
A Turkish diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not rule out discussions on the draft but said "our focus is on the other track" -- referring to the Tehran fuel swap deal.
But U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the deal had "nothing to do" with the uranium enrichment that led to the threatened sanctions against Iran.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, however, spoke to his Turkish and Brazilian counterparts about the Iran nuclear issue and their nuclear fuel swap agreement with Iran, China's Foreign Ministry said on its website. It said Yang told them that China appreciated their efforts and welcomed the nuclear fuel agreement. Yang said he "hopes that this (agreement) will help to promote peaceful resolution of the Iran nuclear issue through dialogue and negotiations."
Iran rejects Western allegations that its nuclear program is aimed at developing weapons. It says its program is limited to the peaceful generation of electricity and refuses to suspend uranium enrichment.
The draft resolution "calls upon states to take appropriate measures that prohibit" the opening of new Iranian bank branches or offices abroad if there is reason to suspect they might be aiding Iran's nuclear or missile programs. It also calls on states "to exercise vigilance over transactions involving Iranian banks, including the Central Bank of Iran" to ensure that those transactions do not aid Tehran's nuclear and missile programs.
It urges countries to be wary of dealing with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and says some members and companies it controls will be added to existing lists of individuals and firms facing asset freezes and travel bans.
The draft, which measures are non-binding, calls for an expansion of an already existing arms embargo to include more types of heavy weapons.
British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said one of the goals of the resolution "is to make it more difficult for Iran to acquire a nuclear weapons capability." Rice said the new resolution would make it more costly for Iran to continue to reject U.N. demands that it halt its enrichment program. But she said the door was still open to Iran if it was ready to accept offers to resolve the crisis through dialogue. "The draft seeks to support, and not replace, our efforts to engage Iran diplomatically," she said.
River to Sea
Uprooted Palestinian
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