A race against time

[Behind the Aegis]

The international effort to halt Iran's nuclear program has moved one step ahead, now that it has become clear that Tehran has ignored a UN Security Council request to stop enriching uranium. Iranian officials have even said they have enrichment centrifuges of a more sophisticated model than was previously believed.

The Security Council will convene therefore for an additional discussion on the Iranian nuclear program. The United States is trying to promote a new draft resolution that will refer to Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which discusses threats to peace and world security and can serve as a legal basis for imposing sanctions on recalcitrant nations. The United States is suggesting that Iran be given two weeks to suspend the operations of the enrichment facilities, after which time it will recommend that economic and diplomatic sanctions be imposed on Tehran.

Imposing the sanctions is no simple task, due to opposition from Russia and China, which are cautioning that punitive steps could just push the Iranians into a corner and thwart any possibility of stopping the nuclear program through diplomatic means. In response, the U.S. government is considering the option of voluntary sanctions, which would be imposed on Iran by countries interested in doing so, outside the framework of the United Nations.

In light of the difficulties expected in the negotiation among the powerful countries, U.S. President George Bush said over the weekend that the diplomacy was "just beginning." The problem is that the diplomats do not have an unlimited amount of time, as indicated by the announcements from Tehran on the new centrifuges and the Iranian opposition's revelation regarding the existence of an additional experimental facility for uranium enrichment in northern Tehran. It appears that the Iranian engineers are also demonstrating a degree of urgency in their race to obtain the bomb.


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