Posted on 08/17/2006 12:49:11 PM PDT by SmithL
The United States intends to move very quickly in early September to impose UN sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend its enrichment of uranium, a senior State Department official said Thursday.
"They will be well-deserved," Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns told reporters. "It's not a mystery to the Iranians what is going to happen."
The UN Security Council already has said Iran faced sanctions if it did not suspend uranium enrichment, a key step in making nuclear weapons.
Iran has until the end of the month to respond officially. It also had said it would reply by next Tuesday to a proposal by the United States and the European Union for concessions that include US supply of some civilian nuclear energy.
Iran rejects allegations that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons. It says its enrichment and other programs are civilian in nature.
"We want to move very quickly in the first part of September," Burns said, referring to threatened UN sanctions.
He said the role of Iran in the Middle East has raised concerns among Arab and other countries about its intentions.
"There is broadened concern about the policy of a country that flexes its muscles," he said. "Iran wants to be the dominant country in the region."
Burns, who played a leading role in US diplomacy over the conflict in Lebanon between Israel and Hizbullah, said, "I talk to Arab governments, and there is increased concern about Iran."
Iran and Syria, the principal backers of the Hizbullah militia, "have a responsibility to respect the peace," Burns said, referring to the cease-fire declared last week by the UN Security Council.
He said the international force the United Nations is arranging to send to southern Lebanon will be strong and heavily armed. While it will not disarm Hizbullah - Burns said that is a task for the Lebanese government - it will keep Hizbullah from rebuilding its fortifications across the border from Israel.
Here we go....
P.S. " Amadjinehad is a swell guy".-- Mike Wallace
The US is going to move very quickly ...in the next few months to schedule meetings and set up hearings and get everyone together and...and are we ever going to actually do anything? Or just keep planning for the future?
Why we keep giving credibility to an institution which is currently constituted to prevent us from defending ourselves is beyond me.
If we were serious, we would boot the UN out of the US and seek to form a new body with the US, Russia, China and India (and maybe, Brazil and South Africa): all the major continental powers.
Note who is conspicuously absent.
What are we gonna do next? Say nasty things about the ayatollah's mother? Geesh.
I sure hope they have consulted with Jimmy Carter about what to do. He has experience with the Iranians.
Unless "sanction" means the same as "bombing" then forget it.
Xacly. I dont want to hear about a series of meetings to discuss possible sanctions to be outlined at a later date dependent on specified hurdles agreed to by the parties that could trigger future discussions that could impose a timeframe with parameters that......FIELD TEST THE MOABs! AND...NO NATION BUILDING THIS TIME MR. PRESIDENT!!
Hopefully something more potent than that :D. How about blockading all of Iran's gasoline imports. Iran imports about 40 percent of its domestically consumed gasoline. Despite being an oil rich country, they are vulnerable in their need for foreign refinery capacity. Turn off the spigot and at the first provocation, bomb some of their refineries and the whole country grinds to a halt within a month. That would hopefully be the straw that breaks the Ayatollahs' backs, so to speak.
The international oil market would be affected, but Bush has topped off the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over the past several years, giving him significant power to head of a market panic.
Is Iran our next conflict? I believe it is.
After Aug22 this will have nothing to do with the State Dept.
Here's a solution for the U.S. In the U.N. Reduce our staff to the bare minimum necessary to exercise our veto power or abstain. Reduce our payments accordingly.
US & Third World.
Sanctions mean "wordbombs." Kind of annoying, like getting spammed, but deletable.
Unless we include a virus.
Sounds good. Let's do it!
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