The United States has reached a new agreement with the P-5+1 group of major developed countries on a “strong draft” of a resolution for sanctions against Iran, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today.
Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing Ms. Clinton made a reference to U.S. scepticism on Iran’s acceptance of a proposal to give up some of its low-enriched uranium in exchange for 20 percent enriched uranium from Turkey: “This announcement is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken in Tehran over the last few days as any we could provide.”
As per the proposals agreed by Tehran in exchange for moving low-enriched uranium off its soil Iran would receive 20 percent enriched uranium for use by the Tehran Research Reactor for medical isotopes.
However the Secretary went on to argue that that there were a number of unanswered questions regarding the announcement coming from Tehran, despite the sincere efforts of both Turkey and Brazil to find a solution regarding Iran’s standoff with the international community over its nuclear program.
Ms. Clinton also outlined the next steps that the U.S. would take in this matter. She said that the P-5+1, which consists of Russia, China, the U.S., Britain, France, and Germany, along with the High Representative of the European Union, would proceed to “rally the international community on behalf of a strong sanctions resolution” that would send an unmistakable message about what is expected from Iran.
China and Russia had previously resisted the U.S.’s push for United Nations Security Council sanctions on Iran, and it was anticipated that fuel-swap deal might further crystallise that resistance.
