The Strategic Ramifications of anti-Iran Sanctions
Only through direct negotiations with Iran can the international community influence and possibly alter the strategic calculus of its rulers.
- Mahan Abedin
- August 13, 2010
Only through direct negotiations with Iran can the international community influence and possibly alter the strategic calculus of its rulers.
The UNSC statement is more a testimony to Sino-US compromise arrived at after nearly a month and half of negotiations rather than being a “diplomatic victory” as has been hailed by North Korea.
Will the recent US Treasury sanctions and impending Congress sanctions on Iran influence Indian companies from doing business with the Islamic Republic?
Undoubtedly, the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks was an international tragedy. It was a crime under international law and as the serious concerns expressed by the UN Security Council demonstrates, it had the potential to threaten international peace and security. Accordingly, it had provoked outright and vehement condemnation by the international community.
The United Nations Security Council imposed the third set of economic and trade sanctions against Iran on March 3, 2008 for refusing to halt its nuclear programme. Resolution 1803, sponsored by Britain, France and Germany, was backed by 14 of the Council’s 15 members; Indonesia abstained. The sanctions were targeted against 13 individuals and 12 companies with links to Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes. One of the 13 individuals targeted is Brig. Gen.
The impact of Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia on February 17 is being felt on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. Apart from plunging the European Union (EU) into a crisis, Kosovo’s independence has escalated the ‘war of words’ between China and Taiwan even as the latter gears up for the March 22 presidential elections, which will also feature a referendum on the island considering membership of the United Nations under the name of 'Taiwan.'
The pressures on Iran to roll back its uranium enrichment programme have increased with the UN Security Council imposing harsher sanctions and Washington indicating that it is even ready to carry out military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. The Iranian leadership, on the other hand, continues to claim that its nuclear programme is peaceful and is essential for producing electricity and helping economic development to meet the needs of a growing population.
In addition to the earlier run two pilot cascades of 164 centrifuges, Iran has set up two more cascades of 164 centrifuges each despite repeated calls from the UN Security Council to halt enrichment related work. Addressing a mass rally on February 11, 2007 in Tehran to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, an unrelenting Iranian President boasted about continuing advancements in the country's nuclear programme and promised to announce a further surprising achievement by April 9, 2007.
The international community first began a co-ordinated effort to confront the complexities of the relationship between war and children with Graça Machel's groundbreaking 1996 United Nations study entitled The Impact of Armed Conflict on Children. Since then many non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies and governments have addressed the severity of abuses of children in wars more proactively, and have advocated better protection of their rights and security.
The visit of UN secretary- general Kofi Annan to Delhi has generated predictable interest in the nature of the relationship that India currently has with this apex global body and the status that it seeks. This is so, even as the UN is attempting a review of its structural framework based on the inputs provided by a high-level panel that has since submitted its report.