Russia and China balk at financial bans on Iran

United Nations, Mar 10: China and Russia balked today at financial sanctions against Iran during negotiations among six powers on a new UN Security Council resolution that would penalize Iran for its nuclear programme.

At issue are proposals to freeze the assets of a list of people, companies and groups such as Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps and the state-owned Bank Sepah.

They also call for a ban on new commitments for grants, loans and credits to Iran, which both Russia and China oppose.

China's ''main difficulty is with the financial and the trade sanctions against Iran because we feel that we are not punishing the Iranian people. We should punish the Iranians for their activities in the nuclear field,'' China's U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, said after talks.

''I don't think we will be ready by next week,'' Wang said, although Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said there was a chance that the full 15-member council could review a draft resolution next week.

The new resolution is a follow-up to one adopted by the Security Council on December 23 that imposed trade sanctions on sensitive nuclear materials and technology and froze assets of key Iranians individuals, groups and businesses. That measure demands Iran suspend uranium enrichment, which can provide fuel for power plants or for bombs, but Tehran refused to comply.

Ambassadors from the five permanent council members -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China -- as well as Germany met today for the fourth time this week.

China and Russia usually back each other, but Wang said Moscow had difficulties with sanctions against bodies and businesses controlled by Iran's Revolutionary Guard ''because they feel it's an institution in Iran and you don't have to penalize an institution.'' The US negotiator, Ambassador Alejandro Wolff, said, ''I think the financial issue is probably the main point of concern.'' Still, Russia's Churkin said the text had to make ''clear that the international community does not approve of movement in the Iranian nuclear program which we have been seeing.'' Russia and China have also not signed on to a mandatory travel ban on Iranian officials connected with the nuclear programme.

Arms Embargo:

The proposals would ban weapons exports by Iran but leave intact its ability to import -- expanding the scope of the measure beyond trade in nuclear materials, which was restricted in the December resolution.

China and others want to define the categories of weapons that would be banned, such as battle tanks, combat aircraft, warships, missiles or missiles systems as defined in UN registers on conventional arms.

''The Chinese view is that we have to focus on the nuclear and missile area but since they see a need to expand it to arms embargo then China would define it in the 7 categories of arms in the UN registrate,'' Wang said.

But Wolff said, ''there is little logic in allowing and encouraging that country to sell arms for money to finance'' nuclear activities.

Russia and China, according to the seven-page March 3 working paper, also had reservations on a related provision that would allow nations to take ''cooperative action'' to prevent weapons trafficking.

The United States and leading European countries suspect Iran is seeking to build nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian atomic programme. Tehran denies the charge and says its program is for generating electricity only.

Reuters