UK minister: proposed UN sanctions against Iran 'pretty weak'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Political directors from the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany will hold talks on Iran in Paris on Saturday, a British minister said Wednesday. Foreign Office minister Kim Howells said a meeting would take place in France, with Britain and the United States pushing for a hardening of sanctions against Teheran over its disputed nuclear program. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has urged tighter UN sanctions, proposing a specific targeting of Iran's oil and gas industry. But US officials have complained that Russia and China remain skeptical about the need for a third round of sanctions. Current UN measures are "pretty weak in reality; I don't think the UN is going out of its way to cripple Iran in any way," Howells told the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee.