U.S. Presses Case Against Iran Ahead of UN Sanctions Vote

It’s gotten to the point that one wonders if American foreign policy resembles even the barest of resemblance to American needs. and democracy.

By DAVID E. SANGER

WASHINGTON — With a vote on new sanctions against Iran only days away, the Obama administration is making the case to members of the United Nations Security Council that Iran has revived elements of its program to design nuclear weapons that American intelligence agencies previously concluded had gone dormant.

The classified intelligence briefings — some held in Washington for foreign ministers and foreign leaders as they visited in recent months, others in foreign capitals — have been part of a lobbying effort to secure votes for the sanctions, the fourth round since 2006. European and American officials expect the vote could come as early as Wednesday, and they say they believe the sanctions will pass 12 to 3, with Turkey, Brazil and Lebanon likely to vote against the sanctions.

In advance of the vote, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran maintained a defiant posture on Tuesday, saying Tehran would not be pressured by the threat of sanctions.

“If the U.S. and its allies think they could hold the stick of sanctions and then sit and negotiate with us, they are seriously mistaken,” he told a news conference in Turkey, according to the state-run Press TV satellite broadcaster.

Moreover, he said, Iran would not repeat a recent offer, made in Tehran and supported by Brazil and Turkey, to ship part of its low-enriched uranium out of the country in return for fuel for a medical reactor.

“The Tehran declaration provided an opportunity for the United States government and its allies. We had hoped and we are still hopeful that they use the opportunity well,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said. “I must say opportunities like this will not be repeated again.”

Separately, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said he would meet with Mr. Ahmadinejad on Tuesday in Istanbul on the sidelines of a regional meeting, according to news reports. Mr. Putin said he believed a sanctions resolution “should not be excessive.”