Iran
Sanctions Draft Was Foreshadowed in Congo, Hillary Jumped the Gun
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, May 20 -- With the US-introduced
Iran sanctions resolution
now pending in the UN Security Council, some have wondered how and
why it was introduced so quickly after Turkey and Brazil announced
their deal with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. At the UN, US Ambassador Susan
Rice convened a briefing for select press on May 18. Inner City Press
is informed that this was supposed to be the US's launch of the
resolution, its announcement of agreement with Russia and China.
But
forced by the
Turkish and Brazilian deal with Iran, US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton jumped the gun earlier on May 18, testifying on Capitol Hill
that the resolution would be distributed in the UN Security Council
later that day.
Susan
Rice, thus
scooped, merely read out the text of the resolution to the reporters
selected by her and her spokesman Mark Kornblau. Later on May 18,
after a Security
Council session outside of which Brazil's Ambassador
announced her country would not "engage" with the US draft,
the text of the resolution was given to again select reporters at a
reception at the Waldorf=Astoria.
At
that
resolution, Rice's staff read over the shoulder as a story was being
written, demanding to know how Rice and the resolution were being
portrayed.
The
next day at an
ostensibly off the record briefing by UK Ambassador Mark Lyell Grant,
UK selected reporters were told that the agreement was reached
Friday, with confirmation from capitals on Monday.
But,
other sources
tell Inner City Press, France's Ambassador Gerard Fraud said during
some
Council members' trip to Kinsasha over the weekend that the P-5
plus one had agreed, and the resolution would be unveiled to in the
Council to other members on Tuesday.
Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice, who goes first on Iran?
At
a UN reception
for Cameroon's 50th anniversary on May 20, the Permanent
Representative of a major developing country scoffed at the
resolution and its timing. "You will not stop Iran," he told Inner City
Press. He said that "Saudi Arabia doesn't really want a bomb," and it
is
difficult for Egypt to come out and say Iran should not have a
nuclear bomb if Israel has 200.
Inner
City Press
asked if he thinks Brazil's Lula da Silva really wants to replaced
Ban Ki-moon as Secretary General of the UN. No, he said, Lula is too
big for the job. The Cameroonian music played.
Footnote:
at Cameroon's reception, France's Araud and the UK's Lyall Grant were
in the house, along with a slew of other Ambassadors. The Permanent
Representatives of the US and Russia were not seen, the latter having
the UN excuse of a simultaneous screening of a film classic about
Russia's win in World War II.
The Ambassador of Cameroon cut the cake and then the rug: there was
dancing. It was the most successful reception so far in
the "interim" Delegates Dining Room, topping Senegal, but
to Inner City Press an Ivorian diplomat vowed to go it one better.
We'll see.
* * *
Outflanked
by Iran, Turkey and Brazil, US Rushes Out Sanctions Resolution Speaking
of Energy- but China Differs
By
Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, May 18, updated --
As the UN Security Council convened Tuesday at 4
o'clock for the belated distribution to members of the draft Iran
sanctions resolution, whether the U.S. had played its cards right was
the question of the hour. Vice President Joe Biden had said the
resolution would be passed by the end of April. Then other
Administration sources said that, out of respect for the complex
internal politics of Lebanon, the Council's president for May, it
would wait for June.
But
Turkey's and
Brazil's foray to Tehran, and deal about exchanging uranium with
Iran, forced the sanctions proponents' hand. A Turkish diplomat told
Inner City Press on May 17, what's the need for sanctions now? It
seems clear Turkey will not vote for them, and neither will Brazil.
Hillary
Clinton on
Tuesday morning told the Senate that the draft resolution -- agreed
to by China and Russia she said -- would be distributed to the non
permanent Council members later in the day.
The
US Mission to
the UN then invited select reporters for a briefing by Ambassador
Susan Rice, saying it was embargoed until 4 p.m.. Major foreign
correspondents, including from the Middle East, were not invited.
Some joked that they must be, in the U.S. view, "non permanent"
correspondents.
UN's Ban and Ahmadinejad, outflanking not shown
Most
opined that
if the U.S. got China to agree so quickly, the sanctions must be
extremely weak. The appearance of action is perhaps more important at
this time than action itself. Watch this space.
Update of 4:25 p.m.
-- the new press pen is standing room only, and no TV cameras are
allowed to film the entrance of the Ambassadors. As the French go in,
Deputy de la Riviere mugs for the crowd: oh la la. Brazil's Ambassador
rushes in. There are predictions of between half an hour and an
hour of consultations. The stakeout is ready.
Update of 4:36 p.m.
-- a brief descent into substance: some question why Iran would go
forward with the uranium swap it agreed with Turkey if the Security
Council votes for sanctions at this time. To others this sounds like an
argument made in China.
Update of 4:41 p.m.
-- a diplomat emerging from the Council tells the Press, it's not
really a resolution that they've distributed. Reporters penned in crane
to hear. Inside and out, there are translation problems.
Update of 4:51 p.m.
-- translation issue explained: a P-5 spokesperson emerges to clarify
that the translation equipment did not work. The document (this P-5er
IS calling it a draft resolution) was distributed, and a speech began.
Then the equipment didn't work.
Update of 4:53 p.m.
-- Brazil's Ambassador emerges and says, there is a new situation with
the swap. This is the time for negotiations.
Update of 4:57 p.m.
-- Brazil's Ambassador speaks to Brazilian TV. Others -- CNN, Al
Jazeera -- shout, "to the stakeout please! In English!" But all
politics are local.
Update of 5:11 p.m.
-- suddenly reporters want to know the name of the Ambassador of
Brazil, who's been on the Security Council for five and a half months.
Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, we hardly knew ye!
Update of 5:24 p.m.
- in the lull, there is this
ABC "blog" listing elements, quoting a "senior UN official."
Update
of 5:57 p.m. -- in serial stakeouts, the Ambassadors of the US,
France, UK, Russia and China spoke. The US's Susan Rice spoke of
language -- "preambular" -- about investing in Iran's
energy sector. She could only two questions, chosen by her spokesman:
Al Jazeera and Canadian Broadcasting Corp (some guessed, to make up
for a lack of internationalism in their afternoon invites). Inner
City Press asked China's Li Baodong if his country would feel
constrained against investing in Iran's energy sector by this
language. He said that the purpose of sanctions is to bring Iran to
the table, not to punish normal people. This apparently means:
Chinese investment in Iran's oil sector would continue. Then Li
Baodong was gone, an exclusive offered to Xinhua News Service. There
will be negotiations "at the expert level" in the coming
days. Watch this site.
Update
of 6:06 p.m. -- but wait! There's more! Turkey's Ambassador leaves the
chamber, and reporters, mostly for Japanese media, follow him up the
stairs. He pauses, speaks of "CBM." Some scratch their heads:
continental ballistic missiles? No -- it's Confidence Building
Measures! Outside it is raining.
, 
