U.N. council vote on Iran sanctions delayed again

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - France and Britain have again delayed a U.N. Security Council vote on a third round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program in an effort to win over skeptics, diplomats said on Friday.

A sanctions draft resolution was being put into its final form on Friday, one diplomat said on condition of anonymity.

A U.N. spokeswoman said the Security Council would meet to discuss Iran at 11 a.m. on Monday and diplomats said Britain and France would call a vote on the resolution.

U.S. and British diplomats had earlier said the vote would probably be held on Saturday but had left open the possibility that it could be pushed back a few days to allow time for more negotiations with four reluctant council members.

The resolution will tighten existing sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on Iran because of its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, which creates fuel for nuclear power stations but also for atomic weapons, as demanded by the council in three previous resolutions.

Iran denies Western allegations that it is amassing the capability to produce nuclear weapons and says its atomic ambitions are limited to peacefully generating electricity. Tehran has said the case for sanctions lacks any legal basis and that it has no intention to comply with the resolution.

The five permanent council members -- the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia -- and Germany, which is not on the council, agreed in Berlin on January 22 on a draft text outlining a third round of sanctions against Tehran.

Washington had hoped for a swift vote on the sanctions text but negotiations have dragged on for over a month, mainly due to resistance from four nonpermanent members of the 15-nation council -- South Africa, Libya, Vietnam and Indonesia.

The resolution is backed by the five permanent members and six others, meaning its adoption is not in doubt.

UNANIMITY MAY BE DIFFICULT

Two previous sanctions resolutions were approved unanimously in December 2006 and March 2007. Diplomats say the European co-sponsors of the resolution are not optimistic that the third one will have the support of all 15 council members.

But they will be using the weekend to try to win over the four skeptics, which diplomats say have a variety of reservations about the draft resolution. They could vote against the resolution or abstain.

"We're going to make some small changes to the resolution to try to address some of the concerns," the diplomat said. "Vietnam (submitted) some amendments yesterday and it's variations of those we've incorporated."

British Ambassador John Sawers told reporters on Thursday that he wanted the resolution to have "as much support as is possible." But even if there are abstentions or "no" votes, it will be legally binding once adopted, Sawers said.

Two diplomats told Reuters "progress has been made" in persuading the Vietnamese to vote for the resolution but added that the British, French and German co-sponsors of the resolution had not received a firm commitment from Hanoi.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy met his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki on Friday during an official visit to the country and diplomats said the two men discussed Iran.

It was too early to say if the meeting had persuaded the South Africans to back the resolution, they said. Pretoria voted for the second round of sanctions in March 2007.

"There will be meetings over the weekend and discussions between the various capitals ahead of the vote," said one diplomat. "We'll have to see how those discussions turn out."

Libya's ambassador, Giadalla Ettalhi, indicated on Monday that he would probably vote against the resolution. Indonesia's envoy says he is not convinced more sanctions is a good idea.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Worsnip; editing by Mohammad Zargham)