Agence France-Presse,
BERLIN: World powers reached agreement Tuesday on a new UN Security Council resolution against Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said.
“We agreed on the content of the next Security Council resolution,” Steinmeier said after the meeting in Berlin of foreign ministers from the five permanent members of the Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany.
Steinmeier said the resolution would be presented to the Security Council “in the coming weeks.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Russian journalists after the meeting that the new draft resolution envisages direct talks with Tehran that would include the United States.
“It's clearly confirmed by the resolution that direct negotiations on resolving all questions related to the Iranian nuclear programme — with the participation of all six powers, including the United States — would be initiated if Iran accepts the proposals of the six,” Lavrov said.
In his remarks reported by the Ria-Novosti news agency, the foreign minister added that the proposed text does not foresee fresh sanctions against Iran.
Lavrov said the new wording “not only acknowledges, but salutes progress made by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in clarifying aspects of Iran's nuclear programme”.
Iran — which rejects Western fears that it is covertly developing nuclear weapons — has promised to deliver answers on outstanding questions put to it “within the next two or three weeks,” Lavrov added.
A senior US official said the new resolution “increases the severity of the sanctions already in place and will also introduce new elements.”
He said the outcome of the meeting flew in the face of Iranian claims that the sanctions issue had driven a wedge through the so-called P5+1 group.
“The US is very pleased because this is our answer to the Iranians — you are not out of the woods yet,” the official said.
A German foreign ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Berlin was “delighted” with the outcome of the talks.
The senior US official said the resolution foresaw extending the travel ban on Iranian officials along with the asset freeze on companies linked to the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.
The official said the ministers had ironed out their differences on four technical points during the two-hour meeting and continued their discussions over dinner.
He hailed the close cooperation between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on the issue after several months in which relations between their two countries have been strained over US plans to build a US missile defence shield in eastern Europe.
“That mirrored the fashion of the last four to five days when the US and Russia worked very hard together to try to make progress,” the official said.
The group had agreed not to distribute the text before presenting it to the other 10 members of the Security Council, the official said, saying “it has some new elements that will be unveiled in New York.”
In Washington, US State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos said the agreement showed Iran could not divide world powers.
“They're becoming increasingly isolated and I think this shows that they aren't able to divide us in our commitment to this effort,” the spokesman said.
Britain, France and Germany have spearheaded efforts to reach a negotiated settlement to the standoff with Iran.
Washington and its European Union allies have been pushing for a third set of economic and trade sanctions against Iran for defying international demands to stop uranium enrichment activities that they fear could be used to make a bomb.
China and Russia, which have lucrative trade ties with the Islamic republic, have been reluctant to back any more punitive measures.
Iran denies it is seeking an atomic weapon, insisting its nuclear programme is peaceful and aimed merely at providing energy for its growing population.
Tehran said Tuesday it would not be swayed if new UN sanctions were imposed.
“Adoption of a possible new resolution will not have any effect on our people,” government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters.
