AL JAZEERA– The United Nations Security Council has overwhelmingly agreed to a new package of economic sanctions against Iran.
12 of the council’s 15 members voted on Wednesday to approve the sanctions resolution. Turkey and Brazil both voted against the resolution, while Lebanon abstained.
Barack Obama, the US president, called the resolution “the toughest sanctions ever faced” by the Iranian government.
“We recognize Iran’s rights. But with those rights come responsibilities. And time and again, the Iranian government has failed to meet those responsibilities,” Obama said at the White House.
Susan Rice, the United States ambassador to the UN, praised the vote as a “decisive” move against Iran’s nuclear programme, which she called a “grave threat to international security.”
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, was one of several high-ranking Iranian officials to quickly condemn the decision. Ahmadinejad said the sanctions would not have an impact on Iran.
“Sanctions are falling on us from the left and the right. For us they are the same as pesky flies,” Ahmadinejad said. “We have patience and we will endure throughout all of this.”
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, said lawmakers would review the level of Iran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. And Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, said the vote “damaged” the UN Security Council.
Several other European countries praised the sanctions resolution; the Chinese government endorsed it as well, while insisting that it still wants a diplomatic solution.
Continue reading about Iran’s New Sanctions.
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© COPYRIGHT AL JAZEERA, 2010
