More on that meeting:
In Vienna on Monday, Mohamed ElBaradei, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that newly disclosed intelligence reports that Iran secretly researched how to make nuclear weapons were of "serious concern" and would be pursued by his office.
"Iran continues to maintain that these alleged weaponization studies related to conventional weapons only are fabricated," ElBaradei said in a speech to the agency's 35-country policy-making body. "However, a full-fledged examination of this issue has yet to take place."
The studies were described Feb. 25, in a briefing for the governing body by Olli Heinonen, the agency's senior inspector.
They included sketches and a video that appeared to have come from Iran's own military laboratories, and Heinonen said they showed work "not consistent with any application other than the development of a nuclear weapon."
The display of new and newly declassified information was part of the latest effort to pressure Iran to disclose information about its past atomic activities and offer proof that its current program is benign.
The French ambassador, François-Xavier Deniau, said questions raised by the Vienna meeting had opened a "new chapter" in the West's effort to keep Iran from acquiring nuclear arms, according to participants.
Today we see that the Security Council has passed it's third set of sanctions against Iran. The resolution was co-sponsored by Britain and France.
It was nearly unanimous Indonesia abstaining saying it "remained to be convinced of the efficacy of adopting additional sanctions at this juncture."
The other fourteen countries voted in favor of the new sanctions. The resolution authorizes inspections of cargo to and from Iran that is suspected of carrying prohibited equipment, tightens the monitoring of Iranian financial institutions, and extends travel bans and asset freezes against persons and companies involved in the nuclear program.
They have also added 13 names to the existing list of 5 individuals and 12 companies subject to travel and asset restrictions.
One of the new individuals subject to these sanctions is Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Naqdi, who is a prominent member for the Revolutionary Guards and close to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The new names include people with direct responsibility for building fast-spinning centrifuges that enrich uranium ore, and a brigadier general engaged in "efforts to get round the sanctions" in the two earlier resolutions.
The new measure also bans all trade and supply of so-called dual-use items - materials and technologies that can be adapted for military as well as civilian ends.
Of course, as expected Iran, via Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazee ,stated before the vote that it would not comply with “unlawful action” against its “peaceful nuclear program.”
He further stated, "Iran cannot and will not accept a requirement which is legally defective and politically coercive. History tells us that no amount of pressure, intimidation and threat will be able to coerce our nation to give up its basic and legal rights."
This resolution additionally financial monitoring on two banks with suspected links to proliferation activities, Bank Melli and Bank Saderat and calls on on parties to exercise vigilance in entering into trade with Iran. Dealings with Iran's Bank Sepah were banned last year.
In Vienna, Britain, France and Germany said they were preparing a draft resolution critical of Iran that could be adopted by the agency's policy-making body later this week. The United States, Canada, Australia and Japan have already indicated privately hat they would support such a move.
It would be the first time the board had passed such a resolution on Iran since it sent Iran's file to the Security Council for review two years ago.
The United States, which in the past has criticized ElBaradei for not being tough enough on Iran, expressed support for this approach.
Russian diplomats complained that the were not informed about Britain, France and Germany's resolution and Grigory Berdennikov, the chief Russian delegate to the IAEA, said in Vienna that “we are not happy about developments here in Vienna — we were not informed.”
TOUGH.
The fact is Russia and China have been the weak links in the Iranian situation for too long and kudos to Britain, France and Germany for stepping up to the plate.
More from ABC.
The fact is the first two sets of sanction were watered down to the point that they couldn't work because Russia and China, the weak links in the UN, had financial ties and do business with Iran. Those ties haven't change and are not severed but for the first time, with a lot of work behind the scenes, Russia and China, both members of the permanent council, signed on to a tougher set of sanctions.
It is doubtful that Iran will comply because of these sanctions, but they are a step in the right direction in the diplomatic dance.
In the meantime, the IAEA is still urging Iran to cooperate with the investigation of intelligence saying it studied how to make atom bombs.
Breitbart has the gist of the sanctions listed:
The Security Council:
-- calls on all states to act under Article 41 of the U.N. Charter's Chapter 7.
-- reaffirms that Iran shall without further delay take the steps required by the December 2006 resolution calling for suspending uranium enrichment.
-- decides that all states shall take the necessary measures to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of individuals who are related to Iran's proliferation sensitive nuclear activities or for the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems.
-- calls on all states to exercise vigilance over the activities of financial institutions in their territories with all banks domiciled in Iran, in particular with Bank Melli and Bank Saderat.
-- calls on all states to inspect the cargoes to and from Iran, of aircraft and vessels, at their airports and seaports, owned or operated by Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Line, provided there are reasonable grounds to believe that the aircraft or vessel is transporting prohibited goods.
-- requests that IAEA submit a further report on whether Iran has established full and sustained suspension of all enrichment activities within 90 days.
-- reaffirms that it shall adopt further appropriate measures under Article 41 of the U.N. Charter's Chapter 7 if the report shows Iran has not complied with three resolutions.
Nothing to guarantee compliance from Iran, to be sure, but tougher than the last set, yet weak enough to get all on board.
When is the international community going to understand that if they do not use sanctions with teeth to them, something guaranteed to work, then it will be much harder to deal with Iran once they have a nuclear weapon?
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