'Wide support' for sanctions against Iran
US Under-secretary of State Nicholas Burns said today that a majority of the countries that are permanent members of the UN Security Council and Group of Eight members support possible sanctions against Iran in the dispute over the country’s nuclear programme.
“Nearly every country is considering some sort of sanctions and that’s new,” Burns told reporters after two days of meetings in Moscow.
He declined to specify which countries support possible sanctions.
Russia and China, both of which are permanent Security Council members, are seen as likely to offer the most resistant to sanctions.
Earlier today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said urged Iran to halt all uranium enrichment, saying the international community is demanding “urgent and constructive steps” to ease concerns about its nuclear programme.
Official Iranian media, meanwhile, reported that Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator flew to Russia for talks on the issue.
