The Guardian reports today on the latest findings from the International Atomic Energy Agency that suggest Iran is well on the way to developing a nuclear bomb.
UN inspectors have concluded that Iran has used nuclear materials to test uranium enrichment machinery despite Tehran's repeated declarations to the contrary and its obligations to report such practices to the UN.The Iranians aren't taking their treaty obligations seriously. They are also delaying the return of spent nuclear fuel from the Bushehr nuclear power station to Russia. As the Guardian notes: “If the Iranians keep the spent fuel and reprocess it, they obtain weapons-grade plutonium”.
So what’s the UN security council doing about it? Nothing.
Why? Because a coalition of non-aligned states, led by Malaysia, will not agree to refer the matter to the security council.
At the last such meeting [of the IAEA] in June, Washington could not muster the support for reporting Iran to the security council. A similar scenario is unfolding this time despite the greater and broader unease about the alleged bomb project. Malaysia has come under pressure from Washington as head of the non-aligned states but has refused to support a resolution that would shift the issue to the UN security council.Is this a good thing? No, it is likely to lead many Americans to conclude, if they haven’t already, that the United Nations is ineffective in promoting international security and co-operation.
