Nations agree on sanctions

LONDON – The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed Friday to move toward a third set of sanctions against Iran if the country does not answer key questions on its nuclear program, the British Foreign Office said.

The Foreign Office said the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France agreed, along with Germany, to come up with a new sanctions resolution with the aim of voting on it if November reports by the European Union and the International Atomic Energy Agency did not show improved Iranian cooperation.

Russia and China did not confirm that there had been an agreement, which would mark a surprising turnaround in the two countries’ strong resistance to fresh sanctions against Iran.

IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei will report on Iran’s nuclear activities in mid-November. EU chief negotiator Javier Solana is also due to submit a report on Iran’s cooperation.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the Security Council members and Germany had agreed to “finalize a text for a third U.N. Security Council Sanctions resolution with the intention of bringing it to a vote in the U.N. Security Council unless the November reports of Dr. Solana and Dr. ElBaradei show a positive outcome of the efforts.”