Big powers agree on Iran sanctions

[Sydnie]

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Six major powers announced an agreement on Thursday to impose new U.N. sanctions on Iran for its nuclear program, but Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed the initiative would not sway his country.

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"Issuing such torn pieces of paper ... will not have an impact on (the) Iranian nation's will," he told a rally in central Iran, according to the official news agency, IRNA.

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The proposed Security Council resolution includes a ban on Iranian arms exports, an assets freeze on individuals and firms involved in Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and a call to nations and institutions to bar new grants or loans. A copy of the document was obtained by Reuters.

A key element of the agreement is an expanded list of individuals and entities subject to financial restrictions, such as firms owned by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corp. and the state-owned Bank Sepah.

China's U.N. Ambassador Wang Guangya, who had been most critical of the list, was asked if Beijing was happy with the draft. "As the text stands, yes," Wang said, adding that if the 10 rotating council members "wish to change it then we have to go back again"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070315/ts_nm/iran_nuclear_president_dc