S/PV.5646 Security Council

In my capacity as Chairperson of the Committee established pursuant to resolution 1737 (2006) of the 23 December 2006, I have the honour to report to the Security Council, in accordance with subparagraph 18(h) of that resolution, covering the period from 23 December 2006 to 23 March 2007. In order to be effective in using our time, I will shorten my oral statement, the written text of my statement, which has been distributed here this morning, being authentic. By resolution 1737 (2006), adopted on 23 December 2006, the Council imposed certain measures relating to the Islamic Republic of Iran. I will not enumerate them; we all know them well. The Committee established pursuant to resolution 1737 (2006) has been entrusted with undertaking the tasks set out in paragraph 18 of the resolution. Again, these tasks are well known and are repeated in the written text of my statement. Members will recall that, on 18 January, following consultations the Security Council elected the Committee’s bureau for 2007. Its members include myself, as Chairman, and the representatives of Ghana and Peru as Vice-Chairs. The Committee began its work shortly thereafter on 23 January, when it held its first official meeting. In my opening remarks at that meeting, I told members of the Committee that we did not have to resort to interpretations of resolution 1737 (2006) that might broaden or restrict its scope, and that it was our job to facilitate the implementation of the resolution as worded and to ensure that it is correctly implemented. Any new proposal submitted to the Committee would therefore be judged by the extent to which it would contribute to the faithful and effective implementation of the resolution. I also proposed an initial programme of work whereby we would begin by considering the guidelines for the Committee’s work and then proceed to the consideration of reports submitted by Member States, if needed, and of measures they have taken in follow- up to the resolution. That would not prevent us from also taking up any other question that might be raised in the meantime. Since that first meeting, the members of the Committee have met six times for informal consultations almost every week. It is my pleasure to inform the Security Council that, thanks to the intensive efforts made by Council members and to the spirit of cooperation and good faith that they have exhibited, the Committee has made good progress in developing guidelines for the conduct of its work that, I hope, will be able to be adopted soon. The guidelines should allow us effectively to organize our work and facilitate implementation by Member States of the measures imposed by the Security Council. The Committee’s general guiding principle is to ensure that the text of the guidelines is brief and clear, and to avoid repetitions and ambiguities. The guidelines are designed to ensure that results conform to the letter and the spirit of resolution 1737 (2006). In paragraph 19 of the resolution, the Security Council decided that all States shall report to the Committee within 60 days of the adoption of the resolution on the steps they have taken with a view to implementing effectively the relevant provisions of the resolution. On 7 February, in my capacity as Chairman, I sent a note verbale to all Member States in which I reminded them of their obligations thereunder. To date, the Committee has received reports from 58 Member States, as well as a report from the European Union. Of those, 26 reports and the communication from the European Union were received before the deadline of 21 February 2007. Reports are published as official United Nations documents except if a State requests that its report remain confidential. Following a preliminary consideration of the reports, I can inform Council members that 51 States have indicated that they have already adopted the legislative provisions required to give effect to the corresponding paragraphs of the resolution. Seven other States have informed us of the measures they have taken or intend to take to put the necessary legal frameworks into place. Finally, all States that have submitted reports have assured the Committee of their resolve to implement resolution 1737 (2006) and to discharge the obligations emanating therefrom. I have asked Committee members to bring any question or comment that they might have with respect to any of those reports to the Committee’s attention. In accordance with resolution 1737 (2006), the Committee also asked the secretariat of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for information regarding measures taken by the Agency effectively to implement the measures imposed under paragraph 16 of the resolution, which restricts the scope of technical cooperation offered to Iran by the IAEA, as well as any other information it might deem useful in that respect. In a letter dated 5 February addressed to the Director General of the Agency, I requested the Agency to provide that information to the Committee as soon as possible. In a reply dated 13 February, the Agency informed the Committee that its Board of Governors had slated consideration of its cooperation with Iran pursuant to resolution 1737 (2006) for its session scheduled to open on 5 March 2007, and that the Agency would communicate the requested information as soon as possible once the Board had concluded its consideration. On 8 March, the Agency sent the Committee its report on the issue, in which the Board of Governors endorsed the measures proposed in the Director General’s report of 8 February. Of 55 projects, 22 will be suspended. Technical cooperation offered for food, agricultural, medicinal, safety or humanitarian purposes will be pursued. The Agency’s projects in those areas are connected to improving nuclear waste management, using radioactive sources in medical treatment, assessing the security of the research reactor in Tehran and bringing it up to date, and assisting the Iranian atomic energy organization to strengthen its capacities with a view to starting up and running the Bushehr nuclear facility. The projects on which the Agency has suspended its cooperation include the strengthening of Iran’s capacities with respect to its national nuclear energy programme, the creation of a new nuclear technology centre, the strengthening of strategic planning capacities, and various technical training programmes. As I said at the outset of this briefing, the Committee is authorized to designate other individuals and entities whose assets are subject to being frozen and, in the case of individuals, whose travel is subject to restrictions. The Committee is also authorized under paragraph 3 (d) of resolution 1737 (2006) to determine other items which could contribute to enrichment- related, or reprocessing, or heavy water-related activities, or to the development of nuclear weapon delivery systems. During the period covered by our report, the Committee received no request to designate individuals or entities meeting the criteria set out in resolution 1737 (2006) or to include additional articles on the list of banned items. With respect to individuals already designated in the annex to the resolution, the Committee has received no notification or request for derogation or for delisting. It has also received no requests for derogation under paragraph 9 of the resolution with respect to the provision of items or assistance that the Committee had determined in advance would clearly not contribute to the development of Iran’s technologies in support of its proliferation sensitive nuclear activities and of development of nuclear weapon delivery systems. In conclusion, while the Security Council continues to consider measures taken by Iran in the light of the report received from the IAEA pursuant to paragraph 23 of resolution 1737 (2006), and while it considers measures to be taken pursuant to paragraph 24 of the resolution, I wish to affirm that the Committee will continue to conduct its deliberations as effectively as possible, as called for in the resolution.

I shall now give the floor to those Council members who wish to make comments or ask questions in response to the briefing we have just received.

My delegation wishes to express its appreciation for Ambassador Verbeke’s diligent work as Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1737 (2006) and for his report to the Council today. Ambassador Verbeke’s leadership has been essential in the Committee’s work thus far to establish its guidelines and move towards a substantive discussion of Member States’ responsibilities and compliance with resolution 1737 (2006). Iran’s compliance with all of the resolutions of this Council and of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency is essential, and we urge all Member States to stress the importance of this step in their regular discussions and consultations with Iran. We are pleased to note that many States have taken seriously their obligations under resolution 1737 (2006) and have submitted reports on their implementation of the sanctions measures contained therein. My delegation found many of those reports extensive in their scope and discussion. On the other hand, we also found some reports to be much less detailed in their treatment of the steps taken by Member States to enforce or enact laws or regulations to implement the resolution. We believe that it is essential for Member States to provide comprehensive descriptions of their actions to meet the obligations of resolution 1737 (2006) and, more generally, any Security Council resolution involving a reporting requirement. Moreover, we are concerned that approximately 70 per cent of Member States have yet to submit their reports to the Sanctions Committee. We urge those States that have not yet done so to fulfil that requirement without delay. Finally, my delegation notes that progress on defining the Committee’s guidelines has been satisfactory to date, and we look forward to the Committee’s resuming its substantive discussions in the near term.

There are no further speakers inscribed on my list. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.