Tuesday 18 May 2010

JTA News Alert

May 18, 2010

Major powers agree on Iran sanctions

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- The five members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany have agreed on a sanctions package against Iran.

The agreement by the major powers on "strong" Iran sanctions comes partly in response to Iran's attempts to defang international efforts to monitor its nuclear development, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said.

"We have been working closely with our P 5+1 partners for several weeks on the draft of a new sanctions resolution on Iran," Clinton told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations committee on Tuesday, referring to the five permanent, veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany. "And today I am pleased to announce to this committee we have reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation of both Russia and China."

Those two countries have been the most reluctant to expand existing Security Council sanctions.

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