China and Russia Agree to Put Sanctions on Iran

In a surprise move earlier today, China and Russia both indicated their willingness to set economic sanctions against Iran in order to deter it from developing nuclear weapons. The two countries, however, were not specific in what their exact sanction plans were.

Together, this brings the total number of nations supporting such sanctions up to six, with the US, France, Great Britain and Germany as the other four countries. China also stated that it would send diplomats to Tehran to discuss Iran’s nuclear developments, which Iranian authorities maintain are for peaceful energy purposes only. The Obama administration hopes to have a complete UN resolution ready for implementation by the end of April, and President Barack Obama said that he hopes to have specific sanctions prepared in several weeks. Traditionally, for the past few years, China and Russia have both been opposed to sanctions against Iran, and their opposition has deterred the UN Security Council’s progress on negotiating and setting sanctions against Iran. So far, Obama administration officials have responded positively to these changes, saying that they will be effective in forcing Iran to halt its research on nuclear technology.