Libya Dismisses Further Sanctions on Iran

TEHRAN (FNA) Libya has hinted it will not support further sanctions on Iran if its nuclear file goes back to the UN Security Council.

“I do not wish to speak in a final manner on my Government’s position in the event there is a plan to impose further sanctions on Iran. But as a country that has suffered from sanctions, we would be definitely in a difficult position when sanctions are proposed,” Libya’s envoy Jadallah Al-Talhi told a press conference he convened in his capacity as UN Security Council president to discuss its program of work for this month.

Libya was under sanctions for a decade because of its involvement in the Lockerbie case.

“We enjoy good ties with Iran. Its vice-president has recently visited Libya. We also enjoy good relations with the US. On the other hand we support states’ right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. We believe this is completely in line with the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),” he added in answer to a question on whether Libya will support sanctions on Iran or seek a balance between its good relations with both US and Iran.

He said the Libyan-US relations are “back to normal and I think moving in the right direction, perhaps not in the desirable speed … we are happy about that and I think they are happy about that too, that’s why we have our (Foreign) Minister there”.

He said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is still planning to visit Libya “soon”.

He conceded that the Iranian file was among the issues the Iranian vice-President discussed with Libyan officials recently in Tripoli.

He said Libya will try to “understand better the position of the two parties. We will try to be constructive when this subject will be discussed in the Council, hopefully not this month” while he will still be the Council’s president.

He said the issue is not on the Council’s agenda for this month simply because nobody knows when the P5 plus Germany – which are normally known in Iran’s nuclear case as 5+1, that is, the five permanent UN Security Council members (the US, Britain, France, China and Russia) plus Germany – will bring it to the council. “They themselves don’t know,” he noted.