Iraq sanctions proposal gains support in U.N.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States has made significant progress in pushing forward a proposal on Iraqi sanctions, securing at least partial support from four of the five permanent United Nations Security Council members, a senior State Department official told CNN on Friday.

The official said China and France recently agreed to a key component of the U.S.-backed British proposal: a core list of goods that Iraq would not be allowed to import because they could potentially help Iraq in building weapons of mass destruction.

The United States and Britain want to overhaul the sanctions, imposed by the United Nations after Iraq invaded Kuwait in August 1990. The so-called "smart sanctions" proposal would ease restrictions on civilian goods and focus more on military items.

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Iraq faces another United Nations deadline to resolve a standoff over sanctions. CNN's James Martone reports (June 30)

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Russia, the only permanent member who does not support any part of the resolution, has said it will oppose the British plan if it comes to a U.N. Security Council vote.

When asked why the Russians -- who have proposed their own resolution -- do not support the "smart sanctions" proposal, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said, "They have strong economic interests they don't think are being protected."

Tuesday is the self-imposed deadline that the Security Council has given itself to come to an agreement on Iraq. If the council does not vote by July 3, the program will most likely be extended for another 30 days.

Iraq wants all sanctions lifted.

The U.S.-backed British plan was introduced in a resolution to extend the U.N. oil-for-food program, which allows Iraq to sell unlimited quantities of oil provided the money mainly goes to the purchase of food and humanitarian supplies. Money from the sales is kept in an escrow account at the United Nations.

When the council couldn't agree on a sanctions overhaul by early June, members extended the oil-for-food program for 30 days, instead of the usual six months, to give negotiators extra time to reach agreement. Iraq, in protest, stopped U.N.-monitored oil exports to all but its neighbors.

Sergey Lavrov, Russian ambassador to the United Nations, has said, "We can't agree with this document, which can't go on through.

"It would seem that this new scheme is to be introduced without the consent of Baghdad, and this is utterly unrealistic, and moreover it is contrary to the decisions of the council about the need to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq," he said.

The Russian plan would require U.N. inspectors -- within 60 days of starting work in Iraq -- to come up with a list of the key remaining disarmament issues to be completed by Iraq and precise details of what is required to complete each one so that sanctions could be lifted.

CNN 's Andrea Koppel, Richard Roth and James Martone contributed to this report