U.N. Stalls Action on Iran Curbs : Security Council’s Leaders to Press Tehran for Truce

In a setback for U.S. efforts to win rapid approval of an arms embargo against Iran, the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed Friday to postpone a decision on sanctions until diplomats try again to persuade Iran to accept a cease-fire in its war with Iraq.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz said that he joined in the agreement to maintain the unity of the Security Council and only after receiving assurances that Iran will not be allowed to revise the terms of the cease-fire resolution, as it has been attempting to do.

Nevertheless, Shultz conceded he is skeptical that Iran will ever comply with the order unless forced to do so.

Luncheon Meeting

Shultz and the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union, Britain, France and China adopted the strategy during a lunch with U.N. Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar.

“The permanent members regard implementation of (Security Council) Resolution 598 as the sole basis for a comprehensive, just, honorable and durable settlement of the conflict,” the five nations said in a joint statement read to reporters by Perez de Cuellar.

“They will, therefore, continue to work on ways and means to secure full and rapid implementation of Resolution 598 and in this context on further steps to assure compliance with that resolution.”

That position stopped short of Washington’s call for the Security Council to meet at once to vote on a new resolution imposing an arms embargo on Iran because of the Tehran regime’s failure to comply with the council’s July 20 demand for a cease-fire and for an Iranian withdrawal from occupied Iraqi territory. Iraq, which no longer holds Iranian territory, has announced that it is prepared to accept the cease-fire.

Satisfied With Decision

Nevertheless, Shultz told a press conference that he is satisfied with the decision because the other four foreign ministers agreed to support sanctions against Iran if the Tehran government continued to reject the cease-fire. He declined to say how long the five nations were prepared to wait.

“The word rapid (in the joint statement) is not defined and I don’t want to define it further,” Shultz said. “Some combination of determination and patience is called for. The degree of patience is limited.

“There are differences in view (among the five ministers) about what Iran’s intentions may be,” he added. “I’m more skeptical, but I would love to be proven wrong and have Iran accept the cease-fire.”

The direction of the U.N. effort was signaled Thursday when Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze agreed to delay action on an arms embargo in an effort to maintain diplomatic unity in the Security Council. The other three permanent members and Perez de Cuellar, in effect, accepted the U.S.-Soviet compromise. If the permanent members, who have the power to veto resolutions, stick together, the rest of the 15-member Security Council seems certain to go along.

Under the U.N. Charter, the council can impose “mandatory” sanctions. Although these orders have been violated in the past by individual countries, the sanctions have the force of international law and most nations are reluctant to defy them.

Iranian Expresses Scorn

Iranian President Ali Khamenei was scornful of the Security Council in a speech to the U.N. General Assembly this week. But in a later press conference, he said that Iran might accept a cease-fire provided that an international tribunal was formed to punish Iraq for allegedly starting the war in September, 1980. However, he indicated that Iran is not prepared to withdraw from Iraqi territory.

In effect, the five permanent members of the Security Council told Iran that there would be no deals to rewrite the resolution to make it more palatable.

“We support the resolution as written--not changed,” Shultz said.

Shevardnadze agreed in brief remarks to reporters, “The resolution must be implemented in the form in which it was adopted.”

Iraq Supports Resolution

Tarik Aziz, Iraq’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, said in a speech to the General Assembly on Friday that his government supports the resolution as it was adopted but would resist any changes.

“We welcome Resolution 598 and we are prepared to cooperate with the secretary general and the Security Council to implement it faithfully and honestly and as it is,” Aziz said. “We shall strongly reject any attempt to review the resolution or the arrangement of its provisions.”

Aziz, a close adviser to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, disputed Iran’s assertion that Iraq started the war. The Iraqi official said that Iran already was occupying Iraqi territory and that Iraq launched a “defensive” strike to drive out the occupiers.

“In September, 1980, Iraq had two options and no others: either to submit to the Iranian aggression aiming at the occupation of Iraq and its conversion into an Iranian province or to exercise legitimate self-defense,” he said.

In his speech on Tuesday, Khamenei said that Iran wants an international tribunal, which he likened to the Nuremberg trials after World War II, to punish Iraq for starting the war. He said that a cease-fire without punishment for the aggressor would only encourage more aggression.

The Security Council resolution calls on Perez de Cuellar to discuss with Iran and Iraq the possibility of establishing an impartial body to inquire about the responsibility for the conflict. But the resolution provides that the cease-fire and withdrawal from occupied territory must come first. The resolution also “demands” a cease-fire but only “requests” the consideration of a panel to fix the blame.