Last update - 00:00 08/09/2006
U.S. hoping for sanctions draft on Iran next week
By Reuters
BERLIN - The United States wants the UN Security Council to begin talks next week on a draft resolution that sets out sanctions against Iran for its nuclear activities, U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said Friday.
Speaking a day after a meeting with fellow political directors from Germany, Britain, France, China and Russia in the German capital, Burns said additional talks on Iran would take place over the phone on Monday.
"The American view is that following these discussions on Monday and perhaps some others early next week, we should move this to the Security Council and draft a [sanctions] resolution," he said.
Burns said the U.S. hoped there would be a draft resolution ready by the start of the UN General Assembly, the next session of which is due to open Tuesday.
He added that no agreement had been reached on what kind of sanctions should be applied.
"This is a complex issue," he said. "We obviously need more time, so we decided to meet again on Monday by conference call."
The United States, which believes Iran wants to build nuclear weapons, has been pushing other countries to impose sanctions against the Islamic Republic, which says its atomic ambitions are peaceful.
But fellow permanent Security Council members China and Russia are reluctant to do so and there is also opposition within Europe.