Ambassador Rice says Iran sanctions near
After meeting with Israeli counterpart Shalev, Deputy FM Ayalon, US ambassador says Security Council to discuss fresh sanctions against Tehran in coming weeks. Congressman Scott: Hitler moved quickly, and they waited, and waited, and waited
WASHINGTON- US Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice met with her Israeli counterpart Gabriela Shalev overnight Thursday (Israel time) and Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon to update them on the American efforts to promote fresh sanctions against Iran at the Security Council.
Rice said after the meeting that in the coming weeks the Council will discuss imposing harsher sanctions aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program.
Following his meeting with Rice and US State Department officials, Ayalon told Ynet that a UN vote on new sanctions is expected sometime in May, or June at the latest.
Rice and Ayalon also discussed next week's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the UN, during which the Americans will try to fend off calls from Egypt and other Arab countries to pressure Israel into signing the pact.
Speaking to reporters, Rice refused to address the issue directly, and only said that the US was working with Egypt and other countries to resolve the NPT dispute in the Middle East.
'Urgency of this issue is beyond dispute'
Meanwhile, members of a House-Senate conference on an impending Iran Sanctions Act are meeting to iron out differences between each chamber’s version – with the aim of delivering the law to President Barack Obama’s desk within a few weeks.
Most members of Congress have complained over the delays in talks on a Security Council resolution regarding new sanctions and said they would not wait beyond the end of May for a decision on American sanctions against Tehran.
"The urgency of this issue is beyond dispute. Iran quite possibly will be capable of developing and delivering a nuclear weapon in the next 3 to 5 years, and our task of preventing Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability is made more complicated by the fact that we all know that our best weapon for fighting this battle -- economic sanctions -- takes time to work. So we need the strongest possible sanctions, and we need them fast," said House Foreign Affairs Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA).
David Scott (D-GA) said in a speech Wednesday, "Hitler moved quickly, and they waited, and waited, and waited."
Recently, over two thirds of the House and Senate signed a letter to president Obama urging him to impose "crippling sanctions" on Iran immediately.
Foreign Policy reported that some lawmakers are standing firm against the State Department's request for broad waiver authority to exempt "cooperating countries" from the new Iran sanctions currently moving through Congress.
