US seeks global sanctions on Iran

Washington: The United States is pushing Europe and Japan to use broad sanctions to financially pressure Iran's leadership if diplomacy fails to resolve an international dispute over Iran's nuclear activities, the Washington Post reported in its Monday editions.

The newspaper said the plan would target every Iranian official the Bush administration sees as linked to nuclear enrichment as well as terrorism, Government corruption, suppression of religious or democratic freedom and violence in Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

It would restrict the Tehran Government's access to foreign currency and global markets, shut its overseas accounts and freeze assets held in Europe and Asia, the newspaper reported, citing internal Government memos and interviews with three US officials.

The plan was developed by a Treasury Department task force that reports directly to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Washington Post said.

The United Nations (UN) is demanding that Iran halt enrichment activities that the West says are a cover for developing weapons. Iran says it only wants to make fuel for nuclear power.

Internal US assessments suggest sanctions would not impact Iran without hurting some US allies, the Washington Post said.

According to the report, US officials hope the Allies will carry out the punitive measures if Iran refuses a package of incentives the Europeans are preparing to offer soon.

Separately, The New York Times reported that Iran appeared to have slowed its efforts to produce nuclear fuel, according to European diplomats who had reviewed reports from inspectors inside the country.

The newspaper quoted the diplomats as saying the slowdown (in uranium enrichment) could be an effort by Iran to cool tensions in the nuclear standoff with the West and possibly for Washington to begin direct talks with Tehran.

"The pace is more diplomatic than technical," a senior European diplomat who monitors the Iranian programme was quoted as saying. "They could probably have gone faster. But they don't want to provoke."

But The Times said Bush administration hard-liners believed any slowdown in enrichment might just be a tactical ploy by the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.