Head of Iran sanctions monitoring group reports to Security Council

The chairman of the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions imposed against Iran today updated the 15-member body on the number of countries which have reported on their implementation of these measures, and the work carried out by the panel during the past three months.

Ambassador Jan Grauls of Belgium told an open meeting of the Council that “to date, the reporting figures are: 89 reports under resolution 1737, 76 reports under resolution 1747, and 51 reports under resolution 1803.”

Resolution 1737 of December 2006 banned trade with Iran in all items, materials, equipment, goods and technology which could contribute to the country’s enrichment-related, reprocessing or heavy water-related activities, or to the development of nuclear-weapon delivery systems.

In March 2007 the Council adopted resolution 1747, further tightening the sanctions by imposing a ban on arms sales and expanding the freeze on assets.

The 15-member body imposed further sanctions against Iran in resolution 1803, adopted in March of this year. These included the inspection of cargo suspected of carrying prohibited goods, the tighter monitoring of financial institutions and the extension of travel bans and asset freezes, over its nuclear programme.

Mr. Grauls also reported that the committee now had revised guidelines for its work that incorporated the relevant provisions of the three separate resolutions. In addition, the group consolidated the annexes to the three texts – containing the names of individuals and entities subject to the travel ban, travel notification or assets freeze – into a single list.

By resolution 1737 the committee is also tasked with seeking information from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on actions it has taken to implement measures imposed by the resolution, defining the scope of the technical cooperation provided to Iran.

In this regard, Mr. Grauls said that the IAEA had informed the committee that no projects had been added to its technical cooperation programme with Iran since the Agency’s February 2007 report, which was updated the following August.

Iran’s nuclear programme – which its officials have stated is for peaceful purposes, but some other countries contend is driven by military ambitions – has been a matter of international concern since the discovery in 2003 that the country had concealed its nuclear activities for 18 years in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).