South Africa Requests Iran Sanctions Be Delayed

UNITED NATIONS — South Africa called yesterday for a 90-day "time out" on sanctions against Iran and said a resolution drafted by six world powers should drop an embargo on arms exports and financial sanctions targeting Iran's Revolutionary Guards and an Iranian bank.

The proposals by South Africa, which holds the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month, were obtained by the Associated Press ahead of an informal council meeting today and the first formal discussion tomorrow on the draft resolution.

The five veto-wielding permanent council nations — America, Russia, China, Britain, and France — and Germany agreed on modest new sanctions Thursday to step up pressure on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, which can be used to produce nuclear energy or nuclear weapons.

South Africa and the nine other nonpermanent council members were not part of the negotiations and only received the draft Thursday to consider and propose changes.

The extensive amendments to the draft proposed by South Africa could delay a vote on the resolution, although with support from the five permanent members the resolution is almost certain to be adopted.

France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said the South African amendments weren't consistent with the approach of the six powers. "It weakened a lot of the resolution, and we think that pressure should be put on Iran," he said.

Iran's President Ahmadinejad wants to address the Security Council on the day of the vote and U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday that he would be allowed to travel to New York. The date of the visit has not been finalized.

In its amendments to the draft, South Africa backed a proposal made by U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei in January for a 90-day "simultaneous time out" as a way to defuse tensions.

Under Mr. ElBaradei's suggestion, Iran would suspend its enrichment activities and the Security Council would hold off implementing sanctions so both sides could "go to the negotiating table."

The South African document said "the 90 day period of grace provided to Iran would allow for a de-escalation of tensions and create an opportunity for Iran and the other parties involved to resume negotiations towards a long-term peaceful solution."

In December, the Security Council voted unanimously to impose limited sanctions against Iran for its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment. It ordered all countries to stop supplying Iran with materials and technology that could contribute to its nuclear and missile programs and to freeze assets of 10 key Iranian companies and 12 individuals related to those programs.