The U.N. Security Council passed a weakened resolution Monday giving Iran until Aug. 31 to suspend uranium enrichment or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions. Iran immediately rejected the council action, saying the resolution would only make negotiations more difficult over a package of incentives offered in June for it to suspend enrichment, CNN reported. "All along it has been the persistence of some to draw arbitrary red lines and deadlines that has closed the door to any compromise," Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, Javad Zarif, said. "This tendency has singlehandedly blocked success and in most cases killed proposals in their infancy." "This approach will not lead to any productive outcome and in fact it can only exacerbate the situation," he said. Because of Russian and Chinese demands, the text was watered down from earlier drafts, which would have made the threat of sanctions immediate. It now essentially requires the council to hold more discussions before it considers sanctions. The resolution passed by a vote of 14-1. Qatar, which represents Arab states on the council, cast the lone dissenting vote. Drafted by Britain, France and Germany with U.S. backing, the resolution follows a July 12 agreement -- by the foreign ministers of those four countries, plus Russia and China -- to refer Tehran to the Security Council for not responding to the incentives package.
