Six major powers clinch deal on new Iran sanctions

UNITED NATIONS: Six major powers have agreed on a draft UN resolution to step up sanctions on Iran for its controversial nuclear activities, the Russian and British UN ambassadors said on Thursday.   

"Yes, we have an agreement," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin replied when asked if the six -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- had agreed on a draft that is to be put to the full Security Council.   

"We have an agreement and I will introduce a text on behalf of the six in 10 minutes," British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said.   

The package is to be formally presented to the UN Security Council's 10 non-permanent members ahead of a vote expected next week.   

The resolution, which would tighten some existing sanctions on Iran and add some others, comes with Tehran standing firm in its refusal to halt uranium enrichment work that the West fears is aimed at building a nuclear bomb.   

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a speech carried on the official IRNA news agency Thursday, lashed out at the 15-member Security Council which he said "has no legitimacy among the peoples of the world."   

"They think that they are the representatives of the international community but the Iranian people do not lend any value to their decisions," IRNA quoted him as saying in a speech in the central Yazd province.   

His withering attack on the UN's most powerful body indicated Tehran has no intention of fulfilling Western hopes that a new package of sanctions could nudge the Islamic republic into suspending sensitive nuclear activities.   

South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, who chairs the Security Council this month, said on Wednesday a vote on the draft resolution was not imminent.   

"The voting won't be soon. We anticipate that the voting would happen well into next week" after all delegations have had a chance to study it and consult with their governments, he said.   

The draft resolution was hammered out after days of intensive negotiations on how to deal with Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. China and Russia had resisted tough action against Tehran.   

The draft would invoke Article 41 of the UN Charter, which provides for economic and trade sanctions but excludes the use of force.   

It would extend the list of Iranians targeted for a travel ban and assets freeze, and also provide for a ban on Iran's arms exports and a voluntary curb on sales of weapons to the Islamic Republic.   

Also under consideration are voluntary restrictions on "new commitments for grants, financial assistance and concessional loans to Iran" as well as extending an assets freeze to additional entities and individuals linked to Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.   

The prospect of new sanctions comes amid an increasingly heated row between Tehran and Moscow over new delays to Iran's first nuclear power station, which Russia is building in the south of the country.   

Iran has repeatedly denied Russian charges it is behind on payments and hinted that political pressure from the United States could be the reason for delays in finishing the project.