UNSC approves new Iran sanctions

Ahmedinejad says sanctions should go into the "trash bin."

By ASSOCIATED PRESS, JPOST.COM STAFF
UNSC 311 (photo credit: AP)
UNSC 311
(photo credit: AP)
UNITED NATIONS —  New sanctions against Iran over its suspect nuclear program that target the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard, ballistic missiles, and nuclear-related investments were approved by the UN Security Council Wednesday.
The resolution imposing a fourth round of sanctions against Iran was approved with 12 "yes" votes, two "no" votes from Brazil and Turkey, and one abstention from Lebanon.
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Turkey and Brazil brokered a fuel-swap agreement with Iran which they hoped would address concerns Teheran may be enriching uranium for nuclear weapons and avoid new sanctions.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad responded to the sanctions, saying they were "worthless" and should only go into "the trash bin," the state-run Iranian Students News Agency reported.
 Iran's UN Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee accused the United States, Britain and their allies of abusing the Security Council to attack Iran.
"No amount of pressure and mischief will be able to break our nation's determination to pursue and defend its legal and inalienable rights," Khazaee said. "Iran is one of the most powerful and stable countries in the region and never bowed — and will never bow — to the hostile actions and pressures by these few powers and will continue to defend its rights."
After the approval of a the sanctions, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon spoke with strident rhetoric on television channel CNN on the importance of the outcome of the council's vote.
"This is a historic moment," said Ayalon. "History will judge the countries by their votes, whether they pursued their own narrow and cynical interests or voted for peace and [regional] stability."
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called the sanctions the toughest ever.
While falling far short of the “crippling” sanctions against the country’s energy sector that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had been calling for, the measures are still viewed as significant because they provide both a legal and a moral base for further, wider sanctions by both the US and the EU.