UN agrees on diluted Iran draft sanctions

The US regarded the agreement as "delaying tactics" played by Tehran to avoid UN sanctions.

Tehran's Fars News Agency quoted Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, also the head of the country's atomic energy organization, as saying Wednesday that major powers would "discredit" themselves if they went ahead with a push for new sanctions.

"(Talks of) imposing sanctions have faded, and this (UN Security Council draft) resolution is the last effort by the West," Salehi said.

The Iranian Embassy in Beijing declined to comment on the latest draft resolution.

Iran's nuclear program has long been suspected by the West as a means to make nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge and claims it is only for peaceful civilian use.

Yin Gang, an expert on Middle East issues at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), told the Global Times that the resolution comes as some are concerned over the effectiveness of the fuel-swap deal in terms of containing Tehran's nuclear ambitions. But he conceded that the draft resolution was "mild" and was basically a repetition of previous rounds of UN sanctions.

"Given Tehran's defiance against the past three rounds of sanctions, the UN Security Council is obligated to impose new sanctions against it.

"On the one hand, it urged Tehran to abide by existing UN resolutions; on the other, it justifies past sets of sanctions," he said.