BBC, with comments by NPSGlobal, 9 Jun 2010

The United Nations Security Council approved new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. This is the fourth round of sanctions, including stricter financial measures and an expanded arms embargo.

The Council voted the Resolution 1929, 12 to two, with one abstention, in favor of a fourth round of sanctions, including tighter finance curbs and an expanded arms embargo. The Security Council resolution was opposed by Turkey and Brazil. They had earlier brokered a deal with Iran on uranium enrichment. Lebanon abstained.

Irma Arguello remarked that today's result was expected on the basis of the way the situation evolved, since the deal brokered by Brazil and Turkey never got the support of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

US President Barack Obama said the sanctions were an unmistakable message on stopping the spread of nuclear arms. Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the sanctions should be thrown in the dustbin like a "used handkerchief".

The US and its allies fear Iran is secretly trying to build a nuclear bomb, but Tehran insists its programme is aimed solely at peaceful energy use. Heavy weapons

Nature of sanctions

Turkey and Brazil opposed the resolution. They had negotiated in May an agreement with Iran on uranium enrichment. Lebanon abstained since the Hezbollah organization, backed by Iran, is part of its current government.

The new sanctions were passed after being watered down during negotiations with Russia and China on Tuesday.

There are no crippling economic sanctions and there is no oil embargo. Those passed include prohibiting Iran from buying heavy weapons such as attack helicopters and missiles. They also toughen rules on financial transactions with Iranian banks and increase the number of Iranian individuals and companies that are targeted with asset freezes and travel bans.

There is also a new framework of cargo inspections to detect and stop Iran's acquisition of illicit materials.

Obama accused Iran's leaders of "hiding behind outlandish rhetoric". But he said the sanctions did "not close the door on diplomacy" and he urged Iran to "choose a different and better path".

Ahmadinejad was quoted by Iran's Isna news agency as saying: "I gave one of the [world powers] a message that the resolutions you issue are like a used handkerchief which should be thrown in the dustbin. They are not capable of hurting Iranians."

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the decision sent a "strong statement of international resolve", increasing the pressure on Iran to meet its obligations.

China's UN ambassador Zhang Yesui said the sanctions were trying to prevent nuclear proliferation and would not hurt "the normal life of the Iranian people".

However, both Turkey and Brazil spoke out in opposition, saying the deal they brokered with Iran had not been given time.

Brazilian ambassador to the UN Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti said: "We do not see sanctions as an effective instrument in this case. They will most probably lead to the suffering of the people of Iran and will play into the hands of people on all sides who do not want dialogue to prevail."

Turkey's envoy Ertugrul Apakan said the Turkey-Brazil deal had created "a new reality" on Iran's nuclear programme and Turkey was "deeply concerned" that sanctions would have a negative impact.

Prof Abbas Edalat, the founder of the Campaign against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran, told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that the sanctions would make "everything worse".

He said: "What the US has done has proved conclusively beyond any doubt that it is not interested in negotiations with Iran... There has been massive hypocrisy here."

The BBC News website's world affairs correspondent, Paul Reynolds, says this new round of sanctions is unlikely to have any more effect on Iranian policy than the first three.

Iran's vital economic interests have not been targeted, he says, and Tehran has in any case developed systems of evasion.

The deal Iran had earlier agreed with Turkey and Brazil would see Tehran deposit 1,200kg of low-enriched uranium with Turkey in return for reactor fuel.

But the deal has not been accepted by world powers and on Wednesday, the US, Russia and France outlined their concerns in letters to the IAEA. The letters were not made public, but US envoy to the IAEA Glyn Davies said the deal "would still leave Iran with substantial stocks [of low-enriched uranium], decreasing the confidence-building value of the original proposal".

Three earlier rounds of UN sanctions blocked trade of "sensitive nuclear material", froze the financial assets of those involved in Iran's nuclear activities, banned all of Iran's arms exports and encouraged scrutiny of the dealings of Iranian banks.

Irma Arguello pointed out that from the very beginning it was doubtful that the deal brokered by Brazil and Turkey, embodied in the Tripartite Agreement with Iran, were to have the support of the five permanent members of Security Council and this was based on several reasons:

a. The agreement's declaratory part explicitly supports Iran's right to enrich uranium while it is confronted by the ban on such activities included as a part of the UNSCR 1737/ 2006.

b. The agreement applies to less than half of the Iran's current LEU stock, and this fact don't prevent the risk of a further enrichment of the remaining inventory until achieving the "breakout capability".

c. The agreement requires the necessary participation of third parties in order to supply the 120kg of 20% uranium required for the Tehran's research reactor, and it was not agreed beforehand with such stakeholders.

Arguello added: "It seems like the good idea of the Brazilian government was spoiled by the lack of a prior dialogue with the powers that should have supported the deal."

UN Security Council Resolutions on Iran:

Resolution 1696 (2006)

Resolution 1737 (2006)

Resolution 1747 (2007)

Resolution 1803 (2008)

Resolution 1929 (2010), draft text, UN official version not yet published.

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