US pushes Iran sanctions over Brazilian-Turkish uranium swap
| Washington
Obama administration officials insisted Friday that a US-sponsored United Nations resolution with new sanctions on Iran is moving forward 鈥� even as they scrambled to remove the speed bumps placed in the resolution鈥檚 path by a recent Brazilian-Turkish uranium fuel-swap deal with Tehran.
The Brazilian-Turkish deal, also known as the tripartite agreement, does nothing to address US and international concerns about Iran鈥檚 continuing enrichment of uranium, senior administration officials said Friday. Because of that, they added, the agreement cannot be seen as a substitute for 鈥減ressure鈥� on Iran to reassure the international community that its nuclear program is, as it says, solely for peaceful purposes.
The tripartite deal is 鈥渟eparate from the basic facts that have brought this issue to the Security Council,鈥� a senior US official says, citing Iran鈥檚 continued uranium enrichment to 20 percent purity. For that reason among others, 鈥渋t鈥檚 important we proceed to New York to adopt the sanctions resolution.鈥�
In an unusual Friday afternoon conference call with reporters, the officials said Brazilian and Turkish officials were 鈥渨ell aware鈥� of waning Western interest in a fuel swap deal with Tehran before the two countries took their proposal to Tehran earlier this month.
The tripartite agreement, which would remove to Turkey about half of Iran鈥檚 enriched uranium stockpile 鈥� or about enough to produce a nuclear weapon if enriched to the level required for a bomb 鈥� was announced in Tehran May 17. The deal would be a 鈥渟wap,鈥� because within a year Iran would receive the fuel rods it needs for an aging research reactor
Hours later on May 17, the US responded by announcing it had secured the support of the Security Council鈥檚 permanent members 鈥� meaning crucially Russia and China 鈥� plus Germany, for a fourth round of UN economic sanctions on Iran.
Friday鈥檚 conference call appeared to be an attempt to answer questions that have swirled around the diplomacy behind the Brazilian-Turkish agreement 鈥� questions that have at least slowed progress towards a full Security Council vote on the proposed resolution. Both Brazil and Turkey are current non-permanent members of the Security Council, but have refused to join in council discussions of the resolution.
With the support of the council鈥檚 five permanent members seemingly assured, the resolution should have no trouble reaching the nine votes necessary for passage from the 15-member council, UN diplomats say. But council members prefer to reach unanimity, and at least two 鈥渘o鈥� votes from Turkey and Brazil (Lebanon is also a non-permanent member) could dilute the resolution鈥檚 message value to Tehran.
One of the issues roiling the diplomatic waters is a letter President Obama sent to Brazilian President Joao Lula da Silva in mid-April taking up US concerns about Iran and responding to Brazil鈥檚 questions about US requirements for a swap deal (The US, along with Russia and France, had put a similar deal to Tehran in October, though Tehran never formally accepted it).
Brazilian officials now claim that the tripartite deal reached earlier this month met all of the demands Obama expressed in the letter.
But US officials say Obama鈥檚 letter was never meant to be a full presentation of US concerns about Iran. Nor was it meant to be a listing of US demands for a swap deal, they add 鈥� especially since the US had lost interest in such a deal, given that Iran had continued to enrich uranium since the October deal fell through and to increase the size of its stockpile.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 asking Brazil and Turkey to go out and negotiate on our behalf,鈥� one of the US officials on the conference call said. 鈥淲e were reacting to some of the ideas they had put before us.鈥e didn鈥檛 feel we needed to be comprehensive.鈥�
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will take up the issue when she meets with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu next week. But US officials say that while the US 鈥渁ppreciates鈥� the two countries鈥� efforts to encourage Iran to cooperate with the international community, they also say the US believes Iran is using the swap deal as a 鈥渢actic鈥� to 鈥渄elay the momentum towards a sanctions resolution.鈥�
Related:
As sanctions loom, is Iran sending peace signals to the US?
Tehran details Iran nuclear deal amid debate over UN sanctions
