Washington, October 05: On the same day the IAEA chief once again assured that no evidence has been found to prove Iran is after nuclear arms, the US ambassador to the UN warns of ‘a wide range of sanctions’ against Tehran.
In what appears to be an effort to downplay Iran’s achievements in its wide-ranging talks with P5+1 group which was held based on Iran’s package of proposal- presented earlier to Western states-, Susan Rice said Washington and its veto-holding allies are already studying the sanction options if Iran does not prove the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.
The 7 and half-hour Geneva meeting had Iran’s points of views on global issues and the country’s mutual concerns with the West top on the agenda with six party members refusing to insist on Iran to halt its nuclear activities
“There are a range of sanctions… under consideration,” said Rice in a Sunday interview with NBC’s Meet the Press.
“There are those that we might pursue multilaterally, in the context of the (United Nations) Security Council. There are others that we could do – outside of the Security Council with partners in Europe and elsewhere. And then there are those that we can take by ourselves unilaterally. There’s a wide range,” she added.
Rice nevertheless claimed that, for now, Washington has decided to give direct negotiations a chance to settle Tehran’s nuclear case.
“We’re very much in a period of intense negotiations now,” she said, adding that Iran’s meeting with world powers last week “was a constructive beginning, but it was only a beginning.”
This is while the UN nuclear watchdog Chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, who travelled to Tehran at Iran’s invitation in a joint press conference with the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Agency Ali-Akbar Salehi reiterated that there is no concrete evidence which can prove Iran’s nuclear activities are aimed at military purposes.
He described Western claims over Iran’s nuclear program as “allegations”.
For months, US officials have warned to tighten the leash on key Iranian industries and to choke off the country’s energy sector.
Earlier in April, a group of American lawmakers advocated the imposition of “tight and crippling sanctions” against countries that sell refined petroleum, including gasoline, to Iran.
Iran is the world’s fourth-largest oil exporter but, according to US estimates, the country relies on gasoline imports to meet 40 percent of its domestic demand.
The idea of gas sanctions against Iran were revived after the country announced plans to build its second enrichment facility in a recent letter to the UN nuclear watchdog.
Based in the southern outskirts of Tehran, the Fordu enrichment facility is due to produce enriched uranium up to 5 percent.
The US Congress has also quick to introduce a series of resolutions supporting increased economic sanctions against Iran in case the talks fail.
“If we want to get their attention, we have to do something real: sanction Iran’s gasoline imports,” said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, in a Friday address.
Iranian officials have largely downplayed Washington’s threat of gas sanctions.
Ali Asghar Arshi, executive director for international affairs at National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC), recently said that the country would have no trouble finding new gasoline suppliers, even if Washington goes ahead and imposes sanctions on all the oil firms that deal with Tehran.
“We can manage … we have alternatives and we can do something about consumption and also production,” Arshi had said.
To impose an effective ban on Iran’s gasoline imports, the US would have to gain the approval of the UN Security Council.
With the strong opposition of Russia and China, two veto-wielding members of the UNSC, gas embargoes are most likely to become a lengthy and costly process for Washington.
—–Agencies