U.N. approval of a new set of economic sanctions against Iran on Wednesday is likely the first step in measures by the Obama administration, Congress and Europe in the coming weeks to pressure Iran on its nuclear program.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1929, passed at the New York headquarters of the world body, contains a loophole that allows Iran to buy advanced Russian air-defense systems.
However, U.S. officials said passage of the resolution will trigger a new round of international pressure on the Islamic republic to abide by its international obligation regarding its uranium-enrichment program, which the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said in reports violates Tehran’s agreement to provide international controls.
Iran has failed to fully disclose to the IAEA the full extent of its two-decade illicit nuclear program since Tehran acknowledged the presence of the Natanz uranium-enrichment facility in 2003.
In 2006, Iran broke seals placed on nuclear equipment by the IAEA at Natanz. Since then, Iran has expanded the number of centrifuges in that facility and has been caught with another undisclosed facility at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps base near Qom.
The new sanctions are the fourth Security Council rebuke since 2006 against Iran’s nuclear program. Like prior resolutions, the document focuses on the Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the United States and its allies suspect is the government entity in charge of procuring equipment for and managing key aspects of Iran’s nuclear program.
A senior State Department official on Wednesday said, “This is an initial step and from this there will be other steps individual nations will take.”
For example, 10 states of the European Union are expected to meet on June 17 to discuss new sanctions on Iran. The U.S. Congress is expected to take up Iran sanctions legislation that would bar violators of previous Iran sanctions from access to the U.S. economy.
“This opens the way for more sanctions initiatives and increasing international pressure on Iran by individual countries and regional groupings,” an Israeli diplomat in Washington said of the U.N. measure.
Susan E. Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said the measure approved by the world body included sanctions with “teeth.”
President Obama praised the Security Council’s decision.
“This resolution will put in place the toughest sanctions ever faced by the Iranian government, and it sends an unmistakable message about the international community’s commitment to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons,” the president said at the White House.
Stressing that “this day was not inevitable,” Mr. Obama said the U.S. had “offered the opportunity for a better relationship with the international community.”
Iran spurned U.S. diplomatic overtures for a year.
Mr. Obama said Iran has the right to pursue a peaceful nuclear energy program, but the country has failed to live up to international nuclear monitoring obligations.
After months of diplomatic wrangling, the United States on Wednesday secured from China and Russia key support of the sanctions, which were approved by a vote of 12-2. Brazil and Turkey opposed the resolution.
Although the vote was not unanimous, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the international community is more unified than ever before, and noted that getting China and Russia to sign on to the sanctions was no small feat.
“Regardless of 12 votes or more, we have in place now a stronger sanctions regime that’s resulted in a country that’s more isolated, based on a broader international commitment, than we’ve ever seen,” Mr. Gibbs told reporters.
David Kay, a former IAEA chief nuclear weapons inspector and the first chief of the U.S. effort to find Iraqi weapons of mass destruction after the 2003 invasion, said, however, that the new sanctions are weak.
“This was largely a victory for the Iranians,” said Mr. Kay, now a senior fellow at the Potomac Institute in Washington. “They did get the Turkish and Brazilians to vote against it. They got a sanctions resolution that by and large will cause them little pain.”
Mr. Kay pointed out that Iran would be allowed to receive the S-300 air-defense missile system, while it bans items like battle tanks, which the Iranians have no interest in purchasing.
“If this had occurred during the Bush administration, most people would say it was a failure,” he said.
Other Republican lawmakers also criticized the sanctions.
House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence said the measure could “further embolden the terrorist nation.”
“Despite months of deliberation by the U.N., this resolution failed to put any new pressure on Tehran and is an inadequate response to this escalating crisis. It’s also a devastating repudiation of President Obama’s internationalist approach to foreign policy,” the Indiana Republican said.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Florida Republican and the ranking member of the House Foreign Relations Committee, said the resolution was weak.
“This resolution, full of loopholes, will not stop Iran’s march towards nuclear weapons or influence the regime’s behavior in any way,” she said. “That the U.S. put all our eggs in the U.N. basket — and got this goose egg in return — is a disaster.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.