Will this fourth round of sanctions work?
A deal has been struck between the U.S. and other countries, including Russia and China, to impose new sanctions on Iran, the Obama administration announced Tuesday, rebuking a deal offered by Tehran only one day earlier to ship nuclear fuel out of the country. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gave no details of the pact, the New York Times reports, but said it would be circulated to the Security Council today. Its five permanent, veto-wielding members, the U.S., Britain, France, Russia and China have all agreed, as well as Germany, even though Russia and China had previously resisted U.S.-led efforts to impose sanctions. These would be the fourth round of sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to stop enriching uranium, agree to an inspection of certain locations, and to turn over documents related to suspected weapons research, as well as allowing for the interviewing of Iranian scientists—although all three rounds failed to get Iran to comply. While Iran has said the nuclear program is meant to produce civilian energy, U.S. and European officials have highlighted work that seems unrelated to energy needs, and pointed out that Tehran has not complied with its obligations to allow inspections of its facilities.