United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Security Council Resolution 1737 was unanimously passed by the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, an ...

on 23 December 2006. The resolution, sponsored by

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Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, imposed sanctions against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

for failing to stop its uranium enrichment program following

resolution 1696 United Nations Security Council Resolution 1696, adopted on July 31, 2006, after expressing concern at the intentions of the nuclear programme of Iran, the Council demanded that Iran halt its uranium enrichment programme. Resolution 1696 was ad ...

. It banned the supply of nuclear-related technology and materials and froze the assets of key individuals and companies related to the enrichment program. It took place two months after the creation of a draft-resolution, which was amended several times after objections from

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. These objections were evident, as it took a last minute call from

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to finalise the vote. The resolution came after Iran rejected economic incentives put forward by the permanent five members of the Security Council plus Germany for Iran to halt its nuclear enrichment programme.

Summary of resolution

The resolution, enacted under

Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter sets out the UN Security Council's powers to maintain peace. It allows the Council to "determine the existence of any threat to the peace, breach of the peace, or act of aggression" and to take military a ...

, requires Iran to suspend certain "proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities." It places several prohibitions on all states with regards to Iran's nuclear activities. The Security Council also imposed a freeze on those assets supporting or associated with Iran's proliferation nuclear activities and established a committee (known as the 1737 Committee) to oversee their implementation. It also provided a deadline for Iran to comply with the resolution. The sanctions would be lifted if Iran suspended the "suspect activities" within 60 days to the satisfaction of the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

Iranian response

Iran responded by condemning the resolution and criticizing the Security Council.

Mohammad Ali Hosseini Mohammad-Ali Hosseini () is an Iranian diplomat and politician who was formerly the deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (Iran), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran. He was the Assistant to Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2017 until December 2019 ...

, a spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, said the resolution "cannot affect or limit Iran's peaceful nuclear activities but will discredit the decisions of the Security Council, whose power is deteriorating." Because the resolution is under Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the United Nations (UN). It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the United Nations System, UN system, including its United Nations System#Six ...

, it cannot be enforced through the use of military means. The Iranian Ambassador to the U.N, M. Javad Zarif, also replied to the resolution, “A nation is being punished for exercising its

inalienable rights Some philosophers distinguish two types of rights, natural rights and legal rights. * Natural rights are those that are not dependent on the laws or customs of any particular culture or government, and so are ''universal'', '' fundamental'' and ...

,” accusing the council of acting at the “behest of a dangerous regime with aggression and war crimes as its signature brand of behaviour,” referring to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, whose

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Ehud Olmert Ehud Olmert (; , ; born 30 September 1945) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the prime minister of Israel from 2006 to 2009. The son of a former Herut politician, Olmert was first elected to the Knesset for Likud in 1973, at th ...

, allegedly took steps towards the disambiguation of Israel's suspected nuclear arsenal. In reaction to the resolution, Iranian President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (born Mahmoud Sabbaghian on 28 October 1956) is an Iranian Iranian principlists, principlist and Iranian nationalism, nationalist politician who served as the sixth president of Iran from 2005 to 2013. He is currently a mem ...

stated "I am sorry for you who lost the opportunity for friendship with the nation of Iran. You yourself know that you cannot damage the nation of Iran an iota." Hosseini, the foreign ministry spokesman, vowed that Iran's relationship with the UN nuclear watchdog would change.

List of individuals and entities with frozen assets

The resolution lists the following individuals and organizations in an annex, as the initial list of people and organizations whose assets are asked to be frozen:

Nuclear program

;Organizations: *

Atomic Energy Organization of Iran The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) is the main Iranian government agency responsible for operating nuclear power, nuclear energy and nuclear fuel cycle installations in Iran. The AEOI is the primary organization responsible for nuclear ...

*Mesbah Energy Company *Kala-Electric *Pars Trash Company *Farayand Technique *

Defense Industries Organization The Defense Industries Organization (DIO) is a conglomerate of companies run by the Islamic Republic of Iran whose function is to provide the Armed Forces with the necessary manufacturing capacity and technical abilities. In recent years, the DI ...

*7th of Tir ;Individuals *Mohammad Qannadi, AEOI Vice President for Research & Development *Behman Asgarpour, Operational Manager ( Arak) *Dawood Agha-Jani, Head of the PFEP (Natanz) *Ehsan Monajemi, Construction Project Manager, Natanz *Jafar Mohammadi, Technical Adviser to the AEOI (in charge of managing the production of valves for centrifuges) *Ali Hajinia Leilabadi, Director General of Mesbah Energy Company *Lt Gen Mohammad Mehdi Nejad Nouri, Rector of Malek Ashtar University of Defence Technology

Ballistic missile program

;Organizations: *

Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group ''Shahid'' ( , , ) denotes a martyr in Islam. The word is used frequently in the Quran in the generic sense of "witness" but only once in the sense of "martyr" (i.e. one who dies for his faith); the latter sense acqui ...

* Shahid Bagheri Industrial Group * Fajr Industrial Group ;Individuals: *Gen Hosein Salimi, Commander of the Air Force, IRGC (Pasdaran) *Ahmad Vahid Dastjerdi, Head of the AIO *Reza-Gholi Esmaeli, Head of Trade & International Affairs Dept, AIO *Bahmanyar Morteza Bahmanyar, Head of Finance & Budget Dept, AIO In addition to the above, Major General

Yahya Rahim Safavi Yahya "Rahim" Safavi (, born 1952) is an Iranian military commander who served as the chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Currently , Safavi is serving as a senior military advisor to the leader of the Islamic revolution. Ad ...

, Commander in Chief of the

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, is a multi-service primary branch of the Islamic Republic of Iran Armed Forces, Iranian Armed Forces. It was officially established by Ruhollah Khom ...

, is listed in a separate group and is claimed to be involved in both the nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Russian missile sale

After the resolution was passed,

sold an unspecified number of

surface-to-air A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-a ...

missiles of the

Tor-M1 The Tor (; ) is an all-weather, low-to medium-altitude, short-range surface-to-air missile system designed for destroying airplanes, helicopters, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and short-range ballistic threats (anti-munitions). Ori ...

type to Iran.

Implementation

In September 2012,

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

confiscated various equipment headed to Iran which may have been sought for the Iranian nuclear program, including carbon fibre, which experts said would be vital if Iran wanted to develop more advanced nuclear enrichment centrifuge technology. In addition, diplomats said that the UAE reported to the 1737 Committee that the UAE had intercepted suspicious equipment headed to Iran about 15 times in three years.

Termination

The provisions of Resolution 1737 were terminated by

United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 was a 20 July 2015 resolution endorsing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on the nuclear program of Iran. It sets out an inspection process and schedule while also preparing for the removal of U ...

effective on Implementation Day of the

Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA; (, BARJAM)), also known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement to limit the Iranian nuclear program in return for sanctions relief and other provisions. The agreement was finalize ...

, 16 January 2016.

References

External links

*
Text of the Resolution at undocs.org
{{UNSCR 2006 1737 United Nations Security Council sanctions regimes Nuclear program of Iran 2006 in Iran 1737 1737 Sanctions against Iran December 2006