BRIC to counter US anti-Iran move at UN

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim

Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are urging the UN to reproach countries that impose unilateral sanctions not approved by the UN Security Council, Brazilian foreign minister says.

“We're beginning to have some political coordination on General Assembly resolutions,” Celso Amorim told Reuters on Tuesday, referring to the coordination among the four nations which make the BRIC group.

“In some cases we're even against multilateral sanctions, so for sure unilateral sanctions aren't welcome because they're outside the UN system,” said Amorim, who is in New York to attend the opening of the UN General Assembly.

He further added that the BRIC members discussed the proposed resolution in a meeting of foreign ministers on Tuesday in New York.

According to Reuters, a resolution in this regard, if approved by the UN General Assembly, could lead to depletion of the legitimacy of additional sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western powers against Iran's nuclear program.

Following the imposition of US-engineered UN Security Council sanctions against the Islamic Republic in June, the United States and the European Union imposed further unilateral sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program.

Fearing those tensions could escalate into war, Brazil had earlier tried to evade the additional sanctions, intermediating a nuclear fuel swap deal between Iran and Turkey. That agreement was largely ignored by the United States.

Commenting on relations between Brazil and the US, Amorim said relations between the two countries remain good, though they disagree on strategy to prevent Iran's access to nuclear weapons.

"Government relations remain very good, but in some issues we're going to disagree," he concluded.