Security Council will not endorse use of force to deal with Iran – President

The Security Council, which yesterday imposed additional sanctions against Iran for its nuclear activities, will not support the use of force to deal with that issue, the 15-member body’s President for March stated today.

On Monday the Council authorized the inspection of cargo suspected of carrying prohibited goods, the tighter monitoring of financial institutions and the extension of travel bans and asset freezes, after Iran failed to comply with requests to suspend uranium enrichment activities. The measures follow Council sanctions imposed in 2006 and 2007.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin called resolution 1803 “a very carefully drafted resolution,” focused exclusively on concerns associated with nuclear and missile proliferation activities.

Speaking to reporters in his capacity as Council President for March, he noted that the resolution was necessary because Iran had not complied with previous demands by the body and insisted on continuing with its enrichment activity.

At the same time, he stressed that all the resolutions make clear that “there is no indication at all of any willingness of the Security Council in any form to sanction or approve or condone the use of force against Tehran in order to deal with the Iranian nuclear issue.”

He noted that yesterday’s resolution is part of a package that included the joint statement issued by “the Six” – China, France, Germany, Russia, United Kingdom and United States – in which they stated their willingness to develop “all-round relations and wider cooperation with Iran,” starting with direct talks and negotiations, if it was willing to suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities.

“Greater opportunities are there for Iran if it responds positively to the offers by the Six,” Mr. Churkin stated, including opportunities of “overcoming its problems with the United States of America.”

The joint statement indicates that the Six will be developing their proposals to provide benefits to Iran and the region in political, economic and security fields, and speaks about the need to have creative approaches regarding negotiations with Tehran.

It is dealing with Iran in a very respectful way, “oriented towards reaching a political and diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue,” said Mr. Churkin. “We hope that Iran is going to consider the opportunities very carefully.”