Spin and Counterspin
So who is telling the truth here?
U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said on Thursday a new draft resolution against Iran agreed by major powers over its nuclear work would be punitive, despite Russian remarks to the contrary.
"This resolution will be punitive. I saw some comments from Moscow yesterday saying it will not be punitive. That's not correct. It's a punitive resolution," Burns told reporters during a visit to Israel.
The Russian comments in question are, I assume, these:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the draft encourages countries to be vigilant in their dealings with Iran to prevent the illegal transfer of nuclear material, but it ``does not foresee any harsh sanctions.''
``It calls for countries to be vigilant while maintaining trade and economic and transport and other ties with Iran so that they are not used for the transfer of forbidden nuclear material,'' he said at a news conference a day after the draft was approved by the five permanent Security Council members and Germany.
We won’t know for sure until the sanctions get tabled, but it looks like the Russians may be right.
World powers agreed on Tuesday on the outline of a third sanctions resolution against Iran over its disputed nuclear work, but diplomats said the draft did not contain the punitive economic measures Washington had been seeking.
Regardless, I doubt it will have any effect of the Iranian government's position, outside of possibly hardening it.
