Tension over the Iran nuclear issue is hotting up again. The IAEA report said Iran was co-operating but not pro-actively co-operating. In short the nuclear watch dog is saying the glass is half full. US and other western countries see the glass as being half empty. What worries the US the most is that Iran has the necessary 3000 centrifuges which can produce weapon grade plutonium in a year. In other words Iran may have an atom bomb in a year’s time.
The US is not going to sit around and twiddle its thumb waiting for that to happen. It is losing its patience about any diplomatic solution emerging. It has warned China to drag its feet on any international initiative and sanctions against Iran to make it stop in its nuclear ambitions.
China and Russia have been responsible for watering down the earlier two UN Security Council resolutions. The US will not tolerate any such dilly-dallying. If it feels its aims are not being met diplomatically [sanctions against Iran supported by the major powers] it will not hesitate to take military action. Israel has been clamouring for long that The US do something about it. Iranian president Ahmadinejad has said before that he would like to nuke Israel. And in Iran’s internal power struggles [between the Ahmadinejad and the more moderate Rafsanjani factions], the former is emerging stronger.
All this portents doom for the Middle east. Bush has already said that if Iran goes nuclear the result will be World War 3.
Guardian
Image credit AFP
