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Russia says it will join sanctions against Iran | US President Obama's biggest foreign policy gamble paid off last night as Russia agreed to join the campaign to impose new sanctions on Iran to halt that country's nuclear programme. Emerging from his first meeting with
Obama since the Eastern Europe missile shield was scrapped, President Medvedev
of Russia conceded: "In some cases, sanctions are inevitable". According to The
Times, Obama went into the meeting, held on the sidelines of the United Nations
General Assembly, ready to press Russia to support sanctions if Iran refused to
address concerns about its nuclear activities. He emerged saying that Medvedev
had agreed that "serious additional sanctions" must be considered if diplomatic
efforts fail. That stance was reiterated later by British Foreign Secretary David
Miliband, who emerged from a meeting of foreign ministers from the E3 + 3 countries
- Britain, France, Germany, the US, Russia and China - to declare a united front
on a policy of diplomacy and sanctions. Miliband called for a "serious response"
from Iran at talks scheduled for October 1 if it wished to avoid sanctions. China
was the only remaining Security Council power opposing sanctions on Iran, but
the statement from the E3 + 3 suggested that it too was ready to consider them.
In his address last night, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad failed to mention
the nuclear issue but sparked a walkout by a handful of Western countries, including
Britain, when he slammed Israel as racist and denounced Jewish influence in the
world. There had been speculation that he would use even harsher rhetoric to deflect
the focus from his disputed re-election and mounting allegations of human rights
abuses. Diplomats said that the date of October 1 had been set to give world leaders
time for bargaining during the Assembly. Western officials were pressing Arab
leaders to get behind the effort. In 2006 the UN Security Council voted to ban
the supply of nuclear- related technology and materials to Iran and to freeze
the assets of key individuals and companies related to the enrichment programme.
Two years later, the EU voted to impose financial sanctions. New sanctions under
consideration range from a ban on foreign investment and the encouragement of
capital flight to put pressure on Iran's currency to a ban on the export of equipment
or technology for oil and gas exploration. A ban on refined petroleum exports
is being considered. |
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