**The UN ambassadors of six world powers are due to meet in New York to discuss possible sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear programme.**China and Russia have so far refused to back the new measures put forward by the US and some European delegations.
At a meeting in the Czech Republic with his Russian counterpart, US President Barack Obama called for a “strong” fourth round of sanctions on Iran.
Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev said he would support only “smart” sanctions.
“Unfortunately Tehran is not reacting to an array of constructive compromise proposals. We cannot close our eyes to this,” Mr Medvedev said after the US and Russian leaders signed a landmark nuclear arms reduction treaty in the Czech capital, Prague.
Russia, like China, has the power to veto sanctions.
Iran insists its uranium enrichment programme is for peaceful purposes.
Diplomatic wrangling
China has confirmed that it will join the US, Russia, Britain, France and Germany for the talks in New York, aimed at reaching a draft resolution which will then go to a vote at the full 15-nation Security Council.
“Negotiations have started previously in capitals and indeed here. They are intensifying,” the US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, told reporters in New York.
She said the parties were working to reach an agreement “within a matter of weeks in the spring”, the Reuters news agency reports.
UN diplomats say a US draft proposal agreed with European allies and passed on to Russia and China a month ago will form the basis of discussions.
Last Friday, Mr Obama telephoned Chinese President Hu Jintao to seek China’s co-operation. Chinese officials have not commented on the discussions.
The talks came while Iran’s top nuclear official, Saeed Jalili, was on a visit to Beijing.
“In our talks with China it was agreed that tools such as sanctions have lost their effectiveness,” Mr Jalili told reporters in Beijing.
Beijing has a close diplomatic and trade relationship with Iran, dominated by its imports of Iranian energy resources.
“China still believes dialogue and consultation are the best way to solve the nuclear issue,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters on Thursday.
‘Smart’ sanctions
There have been three rounds of UN sanctions against Iran, blocking trade of “sensitive nuclear material”, freezing the financial assets of those involved in Iran’s nuclear activities, banning all of Iran’s arms exports and encouraging scrutiny of the dealings of Iranian banks.
The US and its allies on the UN Security Council have been pushing for a fourth round, which would target Iran’s oil trade.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov was asked on Thursday to explain what Mr Medvedev meant by “smart” sanctions.
He said that Russia would not, for example, endorse a total embargo on the delivery of refined petroleum products to Iran.
He said such products might be targeted in other ways, or sanctions on Iran’s energy sector might have to be avoided altogether.
In February, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, confirmed that Iran had produced 20% enriched uranium.
Tehran says it needs the more highly-enriched uranium for a research reactor producing medical isotopes, but Western powers fear it is heading towards enriching uranium to the 90% required for a weapon.This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.