UN to vote on Iran resolution; Russia in doubt

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 23: The UN Security Council plans to vote today on a resolution imposing sanctions on Tehran's nuclear work but Russia has not yet signed on to the measure.

After Britain, France and Germany, made some revisions to the text yesterday, Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere of France told reporters, ''We meet tomorrow for a vote.'' But Russia was not expected to receive final instructions until President Vladimir Putin meets early yesterday with his security advisers, diplomats close to the talks reported.

''Now we have to go back to capitals,'' for instructions, China's UN Ambassador Wang Guangya said.

The resolution demands Tehran end all uranium enrichment work, which can produce fuel for nuclear power plants and bombs, and halt research and development that can make or deliver atomic weapons.

The thrust of the sanctions is a ban on imports and exports of dangerous materials and technology relating to uranium enrichment, reprocessing and heavy-water reactors, as well as ballistic missile delivery systems.

Iran has vowed to continue its nuclear program, which it says is for peaceful uses only, even if the resolution is adopted with the approval of Russia, which is building an 800 million light-water reactor for Tehran at Bushehr that is exempted in the resolution.

Russia is primarily concerned over a provision calling for a freeze on financial assets abroad of 11 individuals and 12 organizations from Iran associated with nuclear programs to prevent them from buying dangerous materials. The list is attached to the resolution.

FINANCIAL SANCTIONS

Russia wanted a council sanctions committee to determine names on the list, a move Western nations feared could make an assets freeze meaningless. Anything sent to a sanctions panel could take months to determine and needs approval from all 15 council members.

''We have never had an objection to assets freeze per se,'' Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said. ''But we must make sure that perfectly legal, innocent activities which have nothing to do with a risk of nuclear proliferation can proceed normally.'' Churkin said he preferred that the sanctions committee sort things out and determine ''exactly who is doing what and why,'' rather than having the list part of the resolution.

Among the revisions in the latest text is one that calls for notification rather than a decision from the sanctions committee for an unfreezing of funds with organisations if prior contracts were involved.

In another concession to Moscow, the Europeans deleted a mandatory travel ban on Wednesday, and instead told nations to notify a Security Council sanctions panel if any Iranians on the list transit through their countries.

The resolution is a reaction to Iran's failure to comply with an August 31 UN deadline to suspend uranium enrichment work and resume negotiations.

The document is under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which makes enforcement mandatory but restricts action to nonmilitary measures. It would suspend sanctions if Tehran in turn suspended ''all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development.'' The bans would be lifted once Iran had fully complied with Security Council resolutions and directives from the International Atomic Energy Agency. But if Iran refuses the council would consider further measures, the text says.

REUTERS