Close ranks on Iran

China has not committed to new international sanctions against Iran, but it has expressed a willingness, at least, to consider a new United Nations Security Council resolution.

This is progress, considering Russia's and China's past reticence to participate in international sanctions against Iran over its suspect nuclear program. Russia appears to have softened its opposition in recent weeks, too. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, in a recent visit to France, said he still supports diplomacy. However, if diplomatic measures failed, Russia would support "smart" sanctions because Russia cannot continue to wait for Tehran's cooperation.

Buoyed by these events, the Obama administration is moving ahead with an effort to persuade the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany to back a resolution intended to increase economic and diplomatic pressure to scale back its nuclear ambitions. Tehran maintains that it is developing nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

If Iran had abided by previous U.N. sanctions or if leaders had not endorsed the results of its fraudulent national election, world leaders might be willing to work with the Iranian government. It has, instead, repeatedly denied access to international nuclear inspectors, conducted provocative missile tests and supplied weapons and munitions to extremist militias in Iraq, which are used against U.S. forces.

This comes on top of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's frequent threats toward Israel and his persistent denials of the Holocaust.

Iran has so frustrated responsible world powers that China and Russia — the two holdouts on previous U.N. resolutions — appear to have tired of its tactics. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says there is a growing awareness on the part of many countries that a nuclear armed Iran would threaten the stability of the Middle East and the globe and disrupt oil supplies. Worse, nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran conceivably means terrorists could gain easier access to enriched uranium.

The risk to the entire world goes up exponentially any time a rogue nation obtains nuclear weapons. The world cannot abide the increased risks associated with Iran developing nuclear weapons, particularly when the United States and Russia are days away from signing a treaty to further reduce their respective nuclear arsenals.

The U.N. Security Council plus Germany have a number of options at their disposal, some of which rely on global cooperation and others that the United States could levy on its own. The preferable course would be a united effort to pressure Iran to halt its reckless nuclear program.