Brown demands sanctions to stop Iran’s arms race

Gordon Brown today issued his sternest warning yet to Iran, calling for "tough and immediate sanctions for those who break the rules" on weapons proliferation.

In a speech at the UN Security Council in New York the Prime Minister said the world "cannot stand by" as Tehran and North Korea develop weapons.

"Today we have to draw a line in the sand. Iran must not allow its actions to prevent the international community from moving forward to a new international era. We must now consider far tougher sanctions together."

He spoke after Barack Obama set out his vision for a nuclear-free world today as leaders agreed a historic pledge for global disarmament.

The US President won unanimous UN Security Council agreement for a motion calling on all nuclear states to work towards scrapping their stockpiles of weapons.

Quoting Ronald Reagan's edict that a nuclear war "cannot be won and must never be fought", Mr Obama warned Iran that he would work with Russia and China to enforce sanctions against proliferation.

Moscow appeared to warm to American demands to help curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Mr Brown offered to put Britain's Trident system on the negotiating table and signalled that he would stand firm with the US on Iran. The resolution calls for stepped up efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote disarmament and "reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism".

It was only the fifth time the Security Council met at summit level since the UN was founded in 1945. Mr Obama, who became the first US president to preside over a Security Council summit, said: "The historic resolution we just adopted enshrines our shared commitment to a goal of a world without nuclear weapons."

Away from the public display of unity, it had earlier been suggested that Downing Street had made five unsuccessful attempts to set up one-to-one talks between the British and US leaders. Lord Malloch-Brown said: "They should not have been so desperate."