Iran is not an imminent threat and sanctions against the Islamic Republic would be a “bad idea”, the UN nuclear watchdog chief has warned. “We need to lower the pitch,” Mohamed ElBaradei said.
The Australian noted recently that Iran’s nuclear program was a chance for the UN and its enthusiasts to prove the power of multilateralism to solve an international crisis. So far that hasn’t happened, and with each day that ticks by under the UN’s phony deadline, Iran is that much closer to acquiring a nuclear bomb. Should that occur, it is anyone’s guess what Mr Ahmadinejad will do next – especially given his equally aggressive missile program, which puts Israel and even some European capitals within range. Military action against Iran has often been dismissed as impractical or impossible, but this defeatist rhetoric immediately gives the game away to the mullahs in Tehran who laugh at, rather than bow to, the moral authority of the UN. Never since the end of World War II have nuclear weapons been so close to the grasp of someone so likely to use them. The Iranians must not be allowed to acquire an atom bomb, and if the UN cannot stop them, someone else will have to.