Bolton would punish Iran by blocking Persian rugs and pistachio nuts [View All]

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Bolton rejects suggestion that the members of the Bush regime are 'unilateralist cowboys'

The Security Council action was intended 'to give the Iranians a clear signal that they were in the spotlight at the center of the U.N. system,' Bolton said. Failure to comply would lead to a 'Chapter Seven resolution which would be legally binding on Iran,' and would obliges them to halt the program. 'It`s a calibrated, gradual, and measured approach,' he added.

But the next step is also in the hands of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.`s nuclear watchdog. It will be up to the agency`s Nobel Prize winning director, Mohamed ElBaradei to decide when to refer the issue back to the Security Council so that a resolution can be passed under Chapter Seven of the U.N. Charter dealing with 'threats to peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression.' A chapter Seven resolution would again give the Iranians time for compliance, and failing that -- Bolton said -- there would be sanctions.

Correspondents noted that Bolton steered clear of any suggestion that force would be used. He said the United States could block importation of Persian rugs and pistachio nuts: both items had slipped into the United States under the wall of existing sanctions. Other possible action included 'looking at illicit international financial transactions by the Iranians.' Other countries would be asked 'to limit travel opportunities' for Iranians.

He said the Iranians had used the three years of negotiations with the E3 European countries firstly to perfect their mastery of nuclear enrichment, and secondly to 'leverage oil and natural gas resources particularly with China and Japan, in a way that reduces the flexibility of these countries.' Despite this, he said, China had been 'considerably more flexible and helpful than Russia.' The Bush administration was frequently depicted as 'unilateralist cowboys,' he went on. But the United States has worked to organize a united response to Iran`s defiant nuclear policy.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/northamerica/article_1153354.php/Bolton_will_block_rugs

And, if that doesn't work we'll slaughter countless innocents to get our way . . . didn't I mention that?