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 The U.S. says it is seeking harsher sanctions against Iran, including a cutoff of investments to its oil and gas industry and restrictions on more Iranian banks.
The United Nations Security Council passed new economic sanctions against Iran last month after Iran refused to scale back its expanding uranium enrichment program. These new sanctions as news reports suggest, have set up a growing confrontation between Tehran and the West.
While Iranian leaders remained unbowed by the UN's action, reiterating their plan to push forward their country's nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that the country will still look forward to the nuclear fuel swap deal brokered in May by Brazil and Turkey. The deal, Ahmadinejad hoped, could help end Tehran's stand-off with the West over its atomic program.
The deal, which Iran had earlier threatened to withdraw if the U.S. pursued sanctions, is now back on the table, with Turkish and Brazilian ministers visiting the country amidst reports of the Tehran Declaration being "still alive and healthy."
Under the deal, Iran agreed to deposit 1,200kg of low-enriched uranium with Turkey, in return for some 120 kg of higher enriched uranium to be used as a reactor fuel. The international community openly criticized Iran for pursuing its nuclear enrichment program but Iran persisted that the new arrangement is for peaceful purposes, where the country will exchange low enriched uranium - potential nuclear weapons material - in return for special fuel rods to make medical isotopes.
However, Iran had to face the wrath of economic sanctions later last month when the United Nation imposed another round of sanctions against the country. Calling for new curbs on conventional-weapons sales to Iran and setting up international inspections of cargoes shipped in and out of Iran, this fourth round of sanctions since 2006 also toughens rules on financial transactions with Iranian banks, as well as increases the number of Iranian individuals and companies that are targeted by asset freezes and travel bans.
Passed with a majority in the 15-nation Security Council with 12 votes in favor with Brazil and Turkey voting against, and Lebanon abstaining, U.S. President Obama justified the new sanctions on the grounds of defending human rights as much as combating a proliferation threat. Offering his most pointed attack on Iran's leadership following a year of fruitless attempts to engage it diplomatically, the vote, Obama said "sends an unmistakable message about the international community's commitment to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons."
However, when it comes to Iran and its "nuclear ambitions," reports suggest that while previous resolutions appear to have slowed Iran's nuclear pursuit, the country has moved its program forward, building new centrifuges and enriching uranium to a 20% level. Uranium must be enriched to above 90% to produce fuel for a nuclear weapon, which the West, as well as Russia and China, fear Tehran is pursuing.
 Iran on the other hand is adamant that it is enriching uranium for civilian use only, as permitted under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The treaty, to which Iran is a party, also calls for inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been unable to certify the purpose of Iran's program.
In the midst of all this, this recent resolution and similar such future initiatives is causing a rift amongst the member states of the Security Council. While the sanctions were not vetoed by any of the five permanent members (United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China), compared to U.S., U.K. and France's tougher veto power against Iran, Russia and China two strong members of the Council seem to have a soft stance on the issue.
China's foreign ministry has expressed its willingness to continue its diplomatic ties with Iran saying that the new resolution doesn't close the door on further diplomatic efforts with the country. Similarly, Russia's foreign ministry persists that the sanctions will not settle the problem of Iran's nuclear program by themselves. "Our efforts aim to give impetus to a political and diplomatic settlement of the issue," foreign ministry's statement said.
Both China and Russia have enjoyed traditionally close ties to Iran and have in the past refused tougher sanctions on the country. Analysts believe that the two countries have their substantial energy and economic interests in Iran which keeps them going against it.
China is ramping up its ties with Iran as many Western firms pull out. Last summer, China signed $8 billion in oil and gas deals with Tehran. Apart from being the second-largest importer of Iranian oil, China today is Iran's biggest economic partner, with more than $21 billion in annual trade. China's trade with Iran stood at $36.5 billion last year alone, surpassing trade with the European Union. The Chinese government therefore supports the need of a dialogue with Iran rather than sanctions fearing that Iran's isolation could make it difficult to complete the ongoing gas and oil projects in the country.
Russia on the other hand plans to finish building Iran's first nuclear power plant and may deliver an anti- aircraft system in spite of the sanctions. Speaking at the regional security conference in Tashkent, Uzbekistan last month, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov said that the new round of sanctions on Iran will not affect Russia's commercial ties to Iran. "We ensured the absolute protection of all the vitally important trade channels that exist between Russia and Iran," he said. "The UN resolution doesn't create any barriers in this sense." Russia also is in talks to build new reactors at Bushehr once the plant opens and justifies that the anti-aircraft systems are defensive weapons and hence do not fall under the new sanctions.
For the time being Western diplomats are optimist that the end result of putting economic sanctions on Iran was probably the best they could have hoped for. Security experts however are skeptical. While the White House trumpets the U.N. vote imposing the toughest sanctions to date against Iran, many articulate the idea that like in the past, such sanctions will in effect be unsuccessful. Given Iran's huge deposits of oil and gas and the increase of demand in energy-hungry nations, it is likely impossible that the country will remain within the sanctions imposed on it by the international world. 
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