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Gates expects UN sanctions on Tehran very soon

Posted on: Wed June 09, 2010

LONDON: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday he expects new United Nations sanctions on Iran over its atomic programme to be agreed very soon .    

Speaking hours before the UN Security Council was set to resume to discuss a draft resolution, he said it was not too late to prevent Iran from securing a nuclear bomb.    

Gates said he was hopeful a resolution will be passed very soon, when asked about diplomatic efforts in New York. The faster it can be passed the better, he told a press conference in London after talks with British Defence Secretary Liam Fox.    

On Iran s alleged efforts to develop an atomic bomb, he said: I don t think we ve lost the opportunity to stop the Iranians from developing nuclear weapons. But he called for international cooperation in dealing with the Islamic republic, warning: The clock is ticking.     

The key was to persuade Iran s leaders that pursuing a nuclear programme will undermine their country s security, by setting off reactions from countries across the region, he said.    

The UN Security Council was to hold fresh talks later on Tuesday on a fourth sanctions resolution against Iran over its atomic programme which the West fears is a cover for nuclear weapons.     The council s five permanent members Britain, France, China, Russia and the United States are co-sponsoring the sanctions draft and believe they have enough support to get it passed in a vote as early as Wednesday.    

Gates spoke before a high-ranking Russian official close to the talks said in Moscow that the latest UN resolution against Iran had been fully agreed and no problems remained ahead of its adoption. The Pentagon chief said the UN sanctions were designed as a legal platform that would allow individual countries or organisations such as the European Union to take additional, tougher measures to pile pressure on Tehran,    

Once the UN resolution is adopted, a number of nations are prepared to act pretty promptly, he said. The British defence secretary said the resolution would send a signal that the entire global community was united against Iran s nuclear programme, amid concerns Tehran could trigger a regional atomic arms race.

Earlier on Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that his country would not hold further talks over its nuclear programme if it was slapped with sanctions.    

 I have said that the US government and its allies are mistaken if they think they can brandish the stick of resolution and then sit down to talk with us, such a thing will not happen, he warned at a conference in Turkey.    

A Turkish diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity that Ankara was trying to persuade Iran not to leave the table even if sanctions were imposed.    

Meanwhile, Iran said on Tuesday it would reject talks on its nuclear programme if it was slapped with new UN sanctions as a senior US official said he expected the measures to be adopted very soon . A senior Russian official said there was full agreement on a fourth sanctions resolution, hours after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad urged Western powers to drop the sanctions in favour of a nuclear fuel swap deal brokered by Brazil and Turkey last month.    

 I have said that the US government and its allies are mistaken if they think they can brandish the stick of resolution and then sit down to talk with us, such a thing will not happen, Ahmadinejad told a news conference here.    

 We will talk to everyone if there is respect and fairness but if someone wants to talk to us rudely and in a domineering manner the response is known already, added the Iranian leader, who is in Turkey for the summit of an Asian security grouping.    

A Turkish diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity that Ankara was trying to persuade Iran not to abandon talks if sanctions were imposed. In Moscow, a high-ranking Russian official said the latest sanctions had been fully agreed and no problem remained for their adoption, which US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said would happen very soon .

Courtesy : The News