US and allies look to targeted sanctions on Iran

The US, Britain and France are looking ahead to sanctions if Iran continues to defy demands that it halt uranium enrichment, but not the sweeping economic and military embargoes the UN Security Council imposed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

What the council’s three veto-wielding Western members will be pushing for are targeted sanctions, which would probably include restricting trade in equipment that has both civilian and military uses, banning travel and freezing the assets of key Iranians who run and oversee the country’s nuclear programme.