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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AP) del.icio.us Digg It!  new Last update - 07:26 03/11/2007 World powers agree to push ahead with tougher UN sanctions on Iran By The Associated Press tags: Security Council, Iran  The five permanent members of the UN Security Council agreed Friday to move toward a third set of sanctions on Iran should Tehran fail to answer key questions on its nuclear program, the British Foreign Office said. The Foreign Office said the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France agreed, along with Germany, to come up with a new sanctions resolution with the aim of voting on it if November reports by the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency did not show improved Iranian cooperation. Russia and China did not comment, but the agreement would mark a surprising turnaround in the two countries' strong resistance to fresh sanctions against Iran. Advertisement IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei will report to the U.N. on Iran's nuclear activities in mid-November. EU chief negotiator Javier Solana is also due to submit a report on Iran's cooperation. The diplomats who met in London on Friday will hold talks again on Nov. 19 to assess the pending reports, a Foreign Office spokesman said. He said that the Security Council members and Germany had agreed to finalize a text for a third U.N. Security Council Sanctions resolution with the intention of bringing it to a vote in the U.N. Security Council unless the November reports of Dr. Solana and Dr. ElBaradei show a positive outcome of the efforts. U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns had urged China and Russia to support harsher UN sanctions, saying the two nations were key to a diplomatic solution to the standoff. "The U.S. believes very strongly there is a need to accelerate the diplomacy, to strengthen the sanctions," Burns told The Associated Press. "We want a diplomatic solution, we do not want to give up on diplomacy, but we need the help of the P5 (permanent Security Council member) countries to do that, particularly the support of Russia and China." The U.S. and its allies accuse Iran of using a civilian power program as cover to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge and insists it needs the technology to generate power. Britain and France have backed the U.S. call for a resolution on a third round of U.N. Security Council sanctions if Iran continues to refuse to suspend uranium enrichment. Burns said the U.S. believes China has increased trade with Iran in the last six months, sending the wrong signal about the international community's attitude toward the nuclear program. Iran's former president, Hashemi Rafsanjani, said Friday in Tehran that talks between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog were making progress and he warned the U.S. to avoid resorting to threats. "The U.S. is making mistakes. Iran is having talks [with the IAEA] and has said it will respond to IAEA questions. They are gradually coming and taking their response. One has to wait, talk and make discussions," he said. Rafsanjani also spoke about the prospects of a U.S. attack against Iran, saying it would create a quagmire for Washington with unimaginable consequences. Burns said participants at Friday's meeting did not discuss an offer from Saudi officials to create a Middle East consortium of users of enriched uranium. The proposal by the Arab nations around the Persian Gulf is to build a uranium enrichment plant in a neutral country to supply the region's states, including Iran, with reactor fuel for nuclear energy programs. Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband briefly discussed the proposal with Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, during talks this week, a Foreign Office spokesman said. Prince Saud told London's Middle East Economic Digest that the plan had been proposed to Iran's government, which said it would consider the proposal. Burns said Washington would look carefully at the offer, but stressed a similar proposal from Russia - to host Iran's uranium enrichment facilities on its territory to allay Western concerns about monitoring - had been ignored Bookmark to del.icio.us And again... Olmert was voted the most corrupt politician for the 2nd year in a row. Political transfer Lieberman wants to outlaw the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee.   1.   More nonsense from AP 20:45  |  Doris Leasing 02/11/07   2.   That is not what has been agreed in London 20:46  |  Chris Linthwaite 02/11/07   3.   diplospeak. nonsense. bombs a`comin. poof. 21:11  |  frenz 02/11/07   4.   If the world does not push for tougher UN sanctions on Iran it 21:23  |  Yael 02/11/07   5.   # 2 chris 21:28  |  Axel 02/11/07   6.   Can you feel it indrajaya? 21:37  |  Johnny 02/11/07   7.   Amazing Story From Bahrain 21:41  |  Jason, Ph.D. 02/11/07   8.   Talking Up the Price of Oil 21:59  |  Mark of Lewiston 02/11/07   9.   Burns can yak yak all he wants,neither Russia nor China will move 22:35  |  lakshmi 02/11/07   10.   For Lakshmi on Russia & Germany 00:49  |  Darth Zaider (Ed) 03/11/07   11.   Russia & China are key to international blackmail. 01:18  |  Dutch 03/11/07   12.   Burns can yak yak all he wants - Lakshmi 01:54  |  Mark Lincoln 03/11/07   13.   Mark of Lewiston 01:58  |  Mark Lincoln 03/11/07   14.   UNSC will be given a bit more time, but then ??? 02:48  |  Voice of Reason 03/11/07   15.   13 Mark Lincoln 04:15  |  Mark of Lewiston 03/11/07   16.   Great news 04:16  |  Conroy 03/11/07   17.   Also good for Russia and Iran 04:21  |  Omran 03/11/07   18.   #2. The Saudi Proposal 06:11  |  ManInTheMiddle 03/11/07   19.   Think how many millions of lives could have been saved if the 09:29  |  Fred 03/11/07   20.   china and russia please 11:04  |  Anto 03/11/07   21.   #11doris and the mists of natick every day 12:01  |  victor hardman 03/11/07   22.   #13 Mark Lincoln - I don`t understand 12:22  |  Yonatan 03/11/07   23.   Would the Iranian regime be toppled 12:28  |  Yonatan 03/11/07   24.   sow what you reap 13:22  |  goldman 03/11/07   25.   Let`s see if this materializes and if China and Russia stop... 15:06  |  Rafa 03/11/07   26.   #18 Man-in-the-middle 16:09  |  John Allen 03/11/07   27.   # 9 lakshmi 17:43  |  Lynn 03/11/07   28.   # 7 Jason 17:47  |  Lynn 03/11/07   29.   man in the middle[east],what would you know about stealth 17:47  |  terrornator 03/11/07   30.   # 24 goldman of london 17:58  |  Lynn 03/11/07   31.   #30 lynn: what turns around comes around 21:33  |  goldman 03/11/07   32.   # 31 goldman of london 22:05  |  Lynn 03/11/07   33.   BTW, goldman of london 22:08  |  Lynn 03/11/07   34.   Iran will get Da BOMB 00:51  |  Ali G 04/11/07   35.   Did I Miss Something? 03:48  |  joebhed 04/11/07

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