Australia ramps up sanctions against Iran

THE Federal Government has announced it will impose further sanctions on Iran in response to Tehran’s refusal to comply with United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions on its nuclear ambitions.

The announcement comes after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) recently released a report confirming that Iran’s nuclear program was aimed at developing weapons and not for power generation as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has claimed.

Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said the additional sanctions aimed at restricting business with Iran’s petroleum and financial sectors, underlined Australia’s mounting concern.

“Iran must take steps required by the UNSC and the IAEA, and engage constructively with the international community on its nuclear program,” he said.

At the Labor Party’s annual conference last weekend, Eden-Monaro MP Mike Kelly spoke of the need to increase pressure on Iran to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

Dr Kelly moved an amendment (which was adopted) calling on Iran to “cease support for terrorism and desist from its calls for and efforts towards the destruction of Israel”.

“This is a reprehensible regime in every sense of the word,” he said.

“This is a leader that has openly stated and openly claimed that he wishes the destruction of a people.

“It would be completely reprehensible for this party not to be able to state clearly that we do not accept those sorts of comments, and that we do not wish to see a man of that intent, a regime of that intent, openly armed and seeking to arm itself with nuclear weapons.”

The Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) welcomed the increased sanctions.

“Only the immediate implementation of the most severe sanctions possible, genuinely threatening Iran’s clerical rulers’ ability to cling to power, and backed up by a credible threat of military action, can now hope to prevent a fatal choice between the catastrophe of a nuclear Iran or the grave risks associated with a military strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure,” executive director Colin Rubenstein said.

An Israeli embassy spokesperson said now was the time to take concrete action in order to ensure Iran’s compliance with Security Council resolutions.

“We welcome Dr Kelly’s amendment, and would also welcome the translation of this amendment into actions by the [Australian] Government,” the spokesperson said.

GARETH NARUNSKY

Photo of Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd