New sanctions would be toughest yet on Iran – Clinton

Reuters: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday a fourth round of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran due for a vote on Wednesday would be the toughest Tehran has faced.

QUITO (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday a fourth round of U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran due for a vote on Wednesday would be the toughest Tehran has faced.

Mexico’s U.N. Ambassador Claude Heller, current president of the 15-nation Security Council, told reporters it was due to meet for the vote at 10 a.m. EDT (3 p.m. British time) Wednesday, after broad agreement was reached on who would be targeted in Iran.

Western diplomats expect 12 council members, including all the five that hold vetoes, to vote for the resolution. Turkey, Brazil and Lebanon are not expected to support it.

Asked if the possibility of two or three ‘no’ votes would amount to a failure for the United States, Clinton told reporters: “I’m not going to comment on something that hasn’t occurred yet. The vote is scheduled for tomorrow.

“These are the most significant sanctions that Iran has ever faced,” she added. “The amount of unity that has been engendered by the international community is very significant.”

(Reporting by Andrew Quinn; Editing by Jackie Frank)