Iran Nuclear Watch: P-5-Plus-1 To Pursue Sanctions Against Iran

Britain’s Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, right, sits beside European foreign policy chief Javier Solana, left, as they sit round a table at the start of a meeting in London, Friday, Oct. 6, 2006. Solana is expected to brief high-level officials from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China on the details of his stalled nuclear talks with Iran, and the group will discuss the possibility of sanctions against Iran.

AP: Nations to pursue sanctions against Iran

Six world powers agreed Friday to pursue possible U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, but left crucial questions about the scope and timing of any measures unresolved.

Top diplomats from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia said in a joint statement after talks in London that they were “deeply disappointed” by Tehran’s refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a key step toward making nuclear weapons.

Apparently divided about how quickly to move, the envoys stopped short of explicitly declaring European negotiations with Iran a failure, as some had expected them to do.

Their statement also shied away from demanding Tehran be punished by the U.N. Security Council, but said they would discuss sanctions in talks at the U.N.

Weak Sauce and the Mullahs are laughing in Tehran as their uranium centrifuges spin at Natanz.

And what about the United States response?

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns went further.

“The decision has been made that we’ll go for sanctions, the question is what the sanctions will be,” he said after the meeting. “In the view of the United States, we have to move for sanctions to raise the stakes for Iran.”

Weak response as well.

What is next?

Beckett said the six powers “will now consult on measures under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter.” Article 41 authorizes the Security Council to impose nonmilitary sanctions such as completely or partially severing diplomatic and economic relations, transportation and communications links.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the discussions on how to win Iranian compliance would take place at the Security Council, Russian news agencies reported. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told ZDF television the powers would begin drafting a resolution.

Burns said political directors of the six nations’ foreign ministries would hold a videoconference Tuesday or Wednesday, and their U.N. ambassadors would then meet, probably the following day.

Britain’s U.N. ambassador said Thursday that he expected “the Iran dossier” to return to the Security Council in the next week, but Beckett set no timeframe for action.

Move it along, folks, to the United Nations Security Council. Iran is now three months closer to mastering the uranium fuel cycle than prior to beginning the latest round of fruitless P-5-Plus-1 negotiations.

Stay tuned……