Capping months of intensive negotiations, the United Nations Security Council today unanimously decided to impose a set of sanctions against Iran in response to its uranium-enrichment activities, which Tehran says are for peaceful purposes but which other countries contend are driven by military ambitions.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called for renewed efforts to reach a negotiated solution to the impasse over Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme, noting that he detected a “slight shift” in the country’s position.

Iran has neither suspended its nuclear enrichment-related activities nor complied with all of its obligations under international non-proliferation agreements, according to a report by the United Nations atomic watchdog which states that further verification of the country’s declarations is difficult because of a lack of transparency from the Iranians.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who heads to Iran tomorrow on an official visit, today voiced sadness at the plane crash in Mashhad that reportedly killed scores of people.