LONDON (Reuters) – A new round of U.N. sanctions against Iran will be ready by mid-June, European diplomatic sources said on Friday, but it remained uncertain how soon a draft proposal will be put to the Security Council.
Brazil’s foreign minister told Reuters on Friday that Brazil was working with Iran to find a solution to the stand off over its nuclear program, a process that could slow the timetable for presenting the draft to the United Nations.
But the European diplomats said mid-June remained the target for getting a fourth round of sanctions passed as the United States and its European partners, with increasing support from Russia and China, move to pile pressure on Iran.
“Brazil and China are now on board,” said one of the sources, who is closely following discussions in New York.
“The timeframe we are working on is … to get a Security Council resolution by the second week of June,” he said.
The European sources said they had expected a draft resolution to go before the 15-member Security Council as early as next week, but U.S. diplomats dismissed that possibility.
“That is not correct,” said a U.S. State Department spokesman.
The EU3+3 — the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China — have been in discussions for months over a further round of sanctions, while Tehran has indicated that it is prepared to re-open discussions on a fuel swap that might forestall the need for tighter new sanctions.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki held talks with Security Council diplomats in New York this week and said he had reiterated the possibility of a uranium swap.
“Everybody should give the swap proposal a chance. Everybody should try to find the proper way to solve this problem,” he told reporters in Turkey, where he held talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Friday.
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Turkey, one of 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, remains opposed to further sanctions against Iran and has repeatedly resisted EU attempts to shift its position.
“The Turks have to be convinced a bit more,” one of the European sources said, adding that efforts would redouble in the coming weeks to try to win Turkey over…
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