The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council decided Friday to move toward a third set of sanctions against Iran if the country does not answer key questions on its nuclear program, the British Foreign Office said. According to the AP, the Foreign Office said the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France agreed, along with Germany, to come up with a new sanctions resolution with the goal of voting on it if November reports by the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency did not show improved Iranian cooperation.
Russia and China did not comment.
IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei will report to the U.N. on Iran's nuclear works in mid-November. EU chief negotiator Javier Solana is also due to submit a report on Iran's cooperation.
The diplomats who met in London on Friday will hold talks again on Nov. 19 to assess the pending reports, a Foreign Office spokesman said. According to him, the Security Council members and Germany had agreed to "finalize a text for a third U.N. Security Council Sanctions resolution with the intention of bringing it to a vote in the U.N. Security Council unless the November reports of Dr. Solana and Dr. ElBaradei show a positive outcome of the efforts."
