UN voted sanctions on Iran

The United States and its partners on Monday pushed for a peaceful end to the dispute over Iran's nuclear programmes, as Washington warned Tehran against turning "a blind eye" to its obligations.

White House spokesperson Dana Perino stressed that "there is no intention of going to war with Iran" even as she scolded the Islamic republic for saying it would curtail its co-operation with the UN nuclear watchdog agency.

"We would urge them not to go down that road," Perino told reporters after Tehran announced that step in retaliation after the UN security council voted unanimously on Saturday to widen sanctions on Iran over its atomic ambitions.

The measures, agreed after days of behind-the-scenes bargaining, block all Iranian arms exports and freeze the overseas assets of 28 additional officials and institutions linked to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.

The council's action also restricts financial aid or loans to Tehran, and sets a fresh 60-day deadline for Iran to comply with UN demands to freeze uranium enrichment and reprocessing or face "further appropriate measures".

The council's five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States - plus Germany have been pressing Iran to return to talks aimed at allaying fears it seeks to develop atomic weapons.

Unfortunate for Iranian people

"We are united. Iran should suspend its enrichment and reprocessing activities," said Perino, who chided Tehran for refusing to do so and for curbing co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"The Iranian regime, rather than comply with its UN security council obligations, is turning a blind eye toward it and it's unfortunate for the (Iranian) people," she said.

From Brussels, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana told the Islamic republic's lead negotiator, Ali Larijani, that the international community sought a peaceful settlement to the dispute.

Larijani for his part stressed Iran's wish also to resolve the problem through negotiations, while adding that sanctions were unacceptable, "Solana spokesperson Cristina Gallach told AFP.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao said in a joint declaration that the volatile issue "should be resolved exclusively in a peaceful way, through negotiations".

"Russia and China will make every effort to ensure the rapid start of negotiations to find a long-term, all-encompassing and mutually acceptable resolution to the Iranian nuclear problem," the declaration said.

AFP