U.S., Russia Push U.N. Pact Against Iran's Nuclear Effort

By JAY SOLOMON

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration and Russia agreed Friday to push forward a new United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Iran's pursuit of nuclear technologies, but without any new economic sanctions.
This agreement, said diplomats involved in the process, reflected a compromise between Washington and Moscow, whose relations have soured since Russian troops entered Georgia last month.
The Bush administration initially hoped to use the annual U.N. General Assembly this month to increase the financial pressure on Iran for its efforts to develop a nuclear fuel cycle. The U.N.'s atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently warned that Tehran is significantly increasing its production of nuclear fuel while failing to address questions about its suspected pursuit of nuclear warheads.
Moscow, however, rebuffed a U.S. call last week for an emergency meeting of the Security Council, plus Germany, to address Iran's action, citing a lack of urgency. Russian diplomats publicly complained that the Kremlin didn't see the need to cooperate with the White House at a time when U.S. officials were condemning Moscow's actions in Georgia.
On Friday, Russian and European officials said the decision to ultimately move ahead with a new Security Council resolution against Tehran reflected the recognition that pressure needed to be maintained against Tehran. Iranian officials have repeatedly declined offers from the U.S. and its negotiating partners that would see the West drop any new sanctions against Iran in exchange for Tehran freezing the expansion of its nuclear program.
The draft resolution reflects "our unity of purpose as far as the problem of the Iranian nuclear program is concerned," Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters in New York. He stressed, however, that "this is a resolution in the absence of the sanctions resolution. ... No new sanctions have been discussed."
Western diplomats said they hoped the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council could pass the new censure of Iran this week. The draft resolution reaffirms existing U.N. actions against Tehran and "does not rule out" the possibility of new sanctions down the line, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said at the U.N.
Write to Jay Solomon at jay.solomon@wsj.com