Russians carry heavy water for Iranian defiance

Washington Post:

Britain, France and Germany have scrapped plans to impose a United Nations travel ban on Iranian officials who are linked to Tehran's most controversial nuclear activities, a move intended to win Russian support for a U.N. resolution restricting Iran's nuclear trade, according to U.S. and European officials.

The latest European concession marked a diplomatic victory for Moscow, which has sought to strip a European draft resolution of any measures designed to punish top Iranians for defying the 15-nation council's repeated demands to halt Iran's enrichment of uranium and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. The council's key Western powers are concerned that such materials might be diverted to a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program, though Iran denies it is seeking atomic arms.

The European powers presented the revised resolution Wednesday night to the Security Council in a closed session. "We will vote this resolution Friday morning -- that's what we intend to do," said Britain's U.N. ambassador, Emyr Jones Parry.

The United States, which has been pressing for tougher sanctions, expressed concern that the European resolution was not strong enough to constrain Iran's nuclear ambitions. But Washington's chief U.N. envoy, Alejandro D. Wolff, would not rule out the possibility that the United States would ultimately support it.

The European draft resolution would bar Iranian trade directly linked to Iran's enrichment and reprocessing activities, and prohibit imports and exports of materials that could help Iran develop a nuclear weapons delivery system or a heavy-water nuclear reactor. It would freeze the financial assets of designated individuals linked to Iran's most sensitive nuclear programs and require states to notify a newly established U.N. committee when those individuals travel abroad.

...
It appears more symbolic than substantive. The Russian position makes no sense. It winds up denying victory to both sides and accomplishing nothing, which must be their objective.

Opinion Journal notes the Iranian voters were tougher on the regime than the UN is likely to be.

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