Word: iran
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...struggles to advance U.N. sanctions against Iran for its defiant pursuit of nuclear capability, President Barack Obama is about to launch a month of high-profile international meetings designed to restrict the spread of nuclear weapons. But Iran's resistance to international pressure threatens the credibility of the entire enterprise. Rather than opening a new era of international cooperation on nuclear nonproliferation, the next four weeks of summitry look more like stagecraft designed to hide failing statecraft...
...unspoken shadow over both meetings will be Iran's pursuit of the capability to build nuclear weapons, undeterred by Washington's attempts to stop it with a combination of talks and coercion. Iran is a signatory to the NPT, which gives it the right to enrich uranium for energy purposes. But because Iran violated NPT transparency requirements, the Security Council has punished it with a series of limited sanctions. Efforts to ratchet up the U.N. sanctions, first imposed in December 2006, have thus far come to nothing...
...Iran has the advantage here is an understatement. Every attempt to curtail its nuclear program has failed. Obama's outreach in the first year of his Administration produced neither a change in Iran's behavior nor a willingness among other countries to increase the pressure on Tehran. The Administration currently claims it is making progress toward tougher sanctions, and the President said this week that he hoped the Security Council would pass a new sanctions resolution this spring. But it is increasingly clear that any new U.N. sanctions, if they come, will contain few new penalties. (See pictures...
...relationship with America grows more distant, most American priorities in the Middle East will not change. Regardless of its particular alliances, America has a profound interest in the stability of the region, and should continue its efforts in that regard. More specifically, America should strive to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Such arms are not merely a threat to Israel; they are a threat to regional peace and the world moratorium on nuclear conflict...
...local or foreign, is capable of stabilizing Iraq on its own terms. The country's prospects in the anxious months ahead may depend as much on the wisdom and statesmanship of its own politicians as on the extent of conflict or cooperation between the U.S., the Arab regimes and Iran. The escalating standoff between Washington and Tehran is unlikely to help...