UN action on N Korea not a precedent for Iran

The UN Security Council unanimously agreed Saturday to impose wide-ranging sanctions on North Korea, including inspection of cargo to and from North Korea, less than a week after Pyongyang defied the world by saying it had tested an atomic bomb.

"I can't recall of any case where the United Nations has taken such strong action against another nuclear state," said Joseph Cirincione, a weapons expert and former nuclear proliferation advisor to the US House of Representatives.

US-led actions against most recent nuclear renegades India and Pakistan, which also conducted nuclear tests outside the scope of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, were largely unilateral in nature and not spearheaded by the world body, he said. While US officials were basking in the support from Russia and China for sanctions against their traditional ally North Korea, experts caution against expecting backing from the two communist powers for punitive action against Iran.

"Russia will point out that Iran's case is far less egregious than North Korea's and may well argue that if (the Security Council) takes a confrontational approach," then Iran may be prompted to drop out of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), said Karim Sadjadpour, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, a think tank.

Both Russia and China have extensive energy and economic links with Iran, which unlike North Korea is an NPT member.

The UN resolution imposing sanctions against North Korea was largely "symbolic" and aimed at prodding the already isolated nation back to the negotiating table, Cirincione said.