U.S., Major Powers Reach Deal on Iran Sanctions

The Obama administration announced Tuesday morning that major world powers, including Britain, France, China and Russia -- the veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council -- have agreed to impose new sanctions on Iran, the New York Times reports. The accord comes a day after the same countries reacted skeptically to Iran's proposal to ship its nuclear fuel to Turkey to allay suspicions about its nuclear ambitions.

"We have reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation of both Russia and China," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. "We plan to circulate that draft resolution to the entire Security Council today. . . . I think this announcement is as convincing an answer to the efforts undertaken in Tehran over the last few days as any we could provide."

Reluctance from China and Russia has hamstrung the powers from coming to an effective agreement on Iran in the past. Both countries are major trading partners with Iran. China has expressed willingness to participate in the talks, but had stalled on an actual agreement for months; Iran had until Tuesday remained a touchy subject in relations between the U.S. and China. A number of Chinese companies are already banned from doing business in the United States because they allegedly sell missile technology to Iran.

Clinton said the agreement with Russia, another reluctant ally, "gives us the credibility to reach agreement as we now have in the United Nations with countries that are concerned about the proliferation represented by Iran." She did not reveal any details about the sanctions.

Clinton acknowledged the leaders of Turkey and Brazil, who put major efforts into brokering the nuclear fuel shipment deal Iran pitched on Monday. But other Western nations worried the concession would not be substantial, and that the deal would derail the U.S.-led drive for sanctions aimed at keeping Iran from enriching uranium on its own soil. Iran claims there are no military motivations behind its nuclear program.