U.S. reaches deal on Iranian sanctions

The
U.S. has agreed to sanctions against Iran proposed by the U.N. Security
Council for their nuclear pursuits. 

One senior administration official said the sanctions will “have an
immediate chilling effect” on Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice was set to unveil the proposal, agreed to
by skeptical council member nations Russia and China, at the United Nations Tuesday
afternoon, just one day after Iran and Turkey announced a deal that some
thought might derail U.S. efforts to win sanctions against Iran.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the deal Tuesday
morning before the start of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee
hearing.

The new sanctions, if agreed to by the full council, are
similar to those the U.N. imposed on North Korea last year, but in many
ways exceed what Rice then called the toughest sanctions regime on
record, an administration official said.

While the official warned that the review process by the council
would not be a short one, another White House official said President
Barack Obama’s goal of implementing sanctions this spring is still
operable.

Even as one senior administration official warned that the proposal
is “stronger, more comprehensive than any prior Iran resolution,” the
proposal is not a silver bullet that will immediately halt Iran’s
nuclear ambitions, the official said.

“This is part of a process, and it is not an end in itself,” the
official said on a conference call Tuesday morning.

The new
sanctions, the official said, would add a range of pressure “focused
on Iran’s nuclear proliferation activities and includes provisions to
deal with Iran’s nuclear investment abroad, conventional arms, ballistic
missiles, cargo inspections, proliferation-related financial
transactions, banking and the IRGC.”

The official spoke on background so as not to interfere with Rice’s
introduction of the resolution Tuesday afternoon.

The official also
said that “intense” negotiations with Russia and China, the two most
skeptical members of the U.N. Security Council with veto power, “send a
very clear message to Tehran” by improving on existing sanctions by
“giving them additional teeth.”

On Monday, Iran, Turkey and Brazil announced a vaguely outlined deal
that would include Iran shipping about half of its uranium to Turkey
for enrichment.

The White House was immediately skeptical of the
deal, which appeared at first to be a threat to whatever progress the
United States had made at the United Nations.

White House spokesman Bill Burton told reporters on Air Force One
Tuesday that Clinton viewed Turkey and Brazil’s efforts as acts of “good
faith,” but the administration viewed the proposed deal as an effort by
Iran to avoid sanctions.

“Ultimately our goal here is to stop Iran from getting a nuclear
weapon,” Burton said. “We weren’t surprised, I don’t think anybody who
follows this issue was surprised, to see that Iran was doing something
that could help forestall sanctions against them.”

The official said the goals of the resolution are first “to increase
the cost to Iran and its leadership of their defiance of the
international community, and secondly, to persuade them that it’s in
their interest to work with the international community to resolve
peacefully the concerns about their nuclear program.”

“These sanctions would also have an immediate chilling effect on
Iran’s ability to move forward with its nuclear and ballistic missile
program and to threaten its neighbors,” the official said.

The
official said the U.S. is still working with member nations on annexes
to the resolution “that will designate individuals and entities for
travel bans and asset freezes.”

The sanctions also include new restrictions on selling conventional
arms to Iran.–