Security Council hears briefing from committee monitoring sanctions on Iran

The head of the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme today updated the 15-member body on the panel’s latest work, including the efforts of States to implement those measures.

Ambassador Yukio Takasu of Japan, in his first briefing as chairman of the committee, said that during the reporting period, 11 December 2008 to 10 March 2009, the Committee had received a number of reports from Member States on their implementation of sanctions and had also responded to notifications of the transfer of materials and queries seeking guidance.

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).

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 Council imposed further sanctions against Iran in resolution 1803, last March. 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.

In his briefing today, Mr. Takasu said that the Committee had received a letter from a Member State “seeking guidance with respect to its inspection of a vessel carrying its flag that had been carrying arms-related materials.”

The Committee responded on 6 February, saying that the transfer of the material in question constituted a violation of resolution 1747 (2007) and, in a further exchange of letters, invited it to provide within 10 working days any additional relevant information regarding that transaction that might help the Committee carry out its mandate.

Mr. Takasu also informed the Council that the Committee had received two notifications from the Russian Federation concerning the delivery of items for use in the nuclear power plant at Bushehr, Iran.

As for the reporting requirement by States on their implementation of the sanctions, the Committee so far had received 91 reports under resolution 1737, 78 reports under resolution 1747 and 65 reports under resolution 1803, he said.