While the fight against the Iraqi insurgency has taken a heavy toll on U.S. soldiers, the loosely organized rebel forces armed with suicide bombs are not the greatest threat to the United States coming out of the Middle East.
No, the news out of Iran is more troubling every day. First, it was Iran’s hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calling the Holocaust “a myth” and saying Israel should be “wiped off the map.” During the recent cartoon controversy, Ahmadinejad called for a contest to solicit the best Holocaust cartoons.
But such virulently anti-Semitic rhetoric would mean little if it didn’t come at a time when Iran is increasingly defiant about restrictions on its nuclear program. The connection between the two is clear: Israel cannot help but feel threatened by the prospect of a nuclear Iran seeking the destruction of the Jewish state.
Iran insists its enrichment of uranium is only for peaceful purposes — yet the evidence indicates otherwise. Yesterday Iran postponed talks with Russia over a reasonable proposal to have uranium enriched in Russia and sent back to Iran for use as an energy source.
The West cannot let Iran proceed with its nuclear program uninhibited. The International Atomic Energy Association has already voted to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council; now the Council must vote to impose economic sanctions on Iran in order to send the message that we do not want to see an Iran armed with nuclear weapons.
Unfortunately, this is likely the most that sanctions will accomplish. As long as Iran continues to be well-supported by foreign oil money, sanctions will not deal serious damage to the Iranian economy. The Iranian people may suffer from them to an extent, but Ahmadinejad would never acknowledge that he is to blame. “Look at how the West tries to deny us of our peaceful plans for energy,” he would declare.
Nevertheless, sanctions are a necessary measure. Something must be done, and short of military action, nothing else can be done. Unfortunately, the quagmire in Iraq has effectively precluded the United States from any pre-emptive military action against Iran.
Of course, if Iran were to come out with an announcement of nuclear weapon capabilities and the willingness to use them, military action may be necessary. But let us hope that day does not arrive. Until then, economic sanctions with the backing of the rest of the world will have to suffice for sending a message of condemnation to Iran.