Source: The Miami Herald, editorial
The world's nuclear watchdog agency has finally decided that, yes, it's apparently true — Iran wants to build a nuclear weapon. Slowly but surely, the case for taking stronger action against Iran for violating international rules against nuclear weapons development grows more compelling.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has bent over backward for years to avoid taking sides between Iran's critics and the government, which insists that it wants nuclear power only to generate electricity and for other, non-aggressive purposes.
The agency wanted to avoid the perception that its impartiality was politically compromised, but even the IAEA has finally realized that Iran is stalling. Claims of benign intentions are no more than a ruse designed to conceal the real purpose of the nuclear program.
According to The AP, a confidential IAEA report says investigators have become convinced that Iran's refusal to cooperate with the IAEA can only mean that it is trying to make a nuclear weapon.
U.S. allies on same page
“Altogether, this raises concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile,'' said the report, which was sent to the U.N. Security Council.
That puts the IAEA and most of the world — including Germany, France, Britain, Israel and other U.S. allies — in the same camp. The main holdouts, Russia and China, have managed to forestall effective U.N. sanctions against Iran. Following Iran's rejection of Moscow's offer to enrich uranium at its own facilities, however, Russia's opposition has ebbed.
The strongest reasons to believe that Iran is building a weapon are its own actions. A recent announcement that it was increasing uranium enrichment to a level that brings it closer to weapons-grade material constitutes a major provocation. The day of reckoning, when Iran actually acquires a weapon, is not here yet, but it is certainly drawing closer.
By pressing for “engagement'' with Iran for the past year, President Obama has managed to convince other countries that the United States has been willing to take the diplomatic route to curb Iran's hostile intentions. But Iran's failure to respond positively means it's not really interested in stopping its drive to obtain nuclear weapons.
Administration gets tough
That bolsters the need for stronger sanctions. The Obama administration has taken important steps recently to get tough with Iran with sanctions against the Revolutionary Guard, the hardline element of the regime led by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr. Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have also spoken more forcefully of the need for sanctions and in support of the protest movement inside the country.
In the end, though, only the resolve of a united international community, including China, can stop Iran's drive to acquire nuclear weapons. The lack of unity has worked to Iran's benefit, and the only result has been to increase the danger it poses to the rest of the world.
