Washington: The United States seeks a new
wave of UN sanctions on Iran "with a sense of urgency", a top
US diplomat said on Wednesday, while warning that even punishing
measures will not sway Iran "overnight."
And "the process of getting consensus" in the UN Security
Council is "always challenging," cautioned Undersecretary of
State for Political Affairs William Burns said in a prepared
statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Faced with Iran`s defiance of world pressure to freeze
its suspect nuclear program, "we are moving with a sense of
urgency toward a new UN Security Council resolution," Burns
said.
"We are working aggressively to adopt concrete measures
that will serve as a platform to strengthen and expand upon
existing sanctions and target the power centers mostly likely
to have an impact on Iran`s strategic calculus," he said.
Burns, who spoke as legislation imposing new unilateral
US sanctions against Iran seemed stalled, noted that Iran was
also facing pressure from decisions by some longstanding trade
and investment partners to end their relationships.
"Neither our formal penalties nor the increasing
ostracism Iran faces from the world will alter its agenda
overnight, but we believe that the mounting weight of
political and financial pressures on its leadership can
persuade Tehran to reassess its approach to the world," said
Burns.
PTI
