Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has asked to address the UN Security Council to defend his country's right to uranium enrichment, was issued a visa on Friday.
UNITED NATIONS: The Security Council scrambled Friday to reach consensus on a draft text broadening UN sanctions against Iran as the Iranian president was granted a US visa to attend the vote expected on Saturday.
The 15-member body held another bargaining round Friday over imposing punitive sanctions on Tehran for refusing to halt its sensitive nuclear fuel work.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has asked to address the Council to defend his country's right to uranium enrichment, was issued a visa Friday and was expected to attend the vote with his delegation.
But ahead of the vote, the 15-member Security Council was still involved in last-minute haggling, with Indonesia and Qatar insisting on inserting a paragraph on the goal of establishing a "Middle East free from weapons of mass destruction and all missiles for their delivery" into the draft.
Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya, whose country was among the six major powers which crafted the latest sanctions resolution, said efforts were continuing to accommodate South Africa, Indonesia and Qatar, three non-permanent council members still unhappy with the latest amended text.
"We have to see how council members react to the text put in blue (meaning readied for an imminent vote Thursday) and see whether there are areas that can be improved to get more support," he told reporters.
"I want all 15 council members on board."
Britain's UN Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, one of the draft's co-sponsors, said Thursday the plan was to have a vote on the text Saturday.
A Western diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the text has the support of at least 12 council members.
Ahmadinejad told French television Thursday that he wanted to present what he called "new proposals" about the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, which the major powers fear is a covert grab for an atomic bomb. He called the proposed UN sanctions illegal, adding he was "not worried" by the prospect of US strikes against his country over the issue.
The delicate diplomatic maneuvering here was unfolding amid fears for 15 British navy sailors seized by Iran as they were conducting "routine" anti-smuggling checks in Iraqi waters Friday, according to the British Ministry of Defense.
Diplomats said the incident has no bearing on the sanctions debate here, but it comes amid rising tensions between Iran and other countries.
Late Thursday, the Security Council members had fine-tuned minor changes made to the text agreed last week by the five veto-wielding permanent members -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany.
But South Africa expressed disappointment that its suggestions for a 90-day suspension of UN sanctions to allow political negotiations with Tehran, to remove the weapons ban and other financial sanctions were rejected.
South Africa, which dismantled its nuclear weapons program during its 1990s transition to democracy, has consistently defended Iran's right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
Indonesian Ambassador Rezlan Ishar Jenie also said Friday: "We are not happy with the text. There are important things that we see as not there."
He said the insertion of a paragraph on the Middle East calling for a nuclear-free zone was "one important aspect I want to discuss today".
His Qatari counterpart Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser said he also wanted the paragraph included.
The draft resolution under consideration would ban Tehran from exporting arms, calls for voluntary trade sanctions and expands a list of officials and companies targeted for financial and travel restrictions.
It builds on sanctions already adopted by the Security Council in December, including a ban on the sale of nuclear and ballistic missile-related materials to Iran and a freeze on financial assets of Iranians involved in illicit atomic and ballistic missile work.
Defying UN demands, Iran has refused to suspend its uranium enrichment work and rejected accusations that it is striving to produce nuclear weapons, insisting its program is designed to generate electricity.
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