It seems that the time span between history repeating itself is getting much shorter. We can recall the United Nation’s imposing strong sanctions and requirements against the nation of Iraq. Now we have the U.N. Security Council passing further sanctions and restrictions against Iran. The vote to impose stiffer sanctions and regulatory requirements against Iran was decided in a 14 to 1 vote in favor. Indonesia decided to abstain because of their opinion that the sanctions do not take into account the cooperation that has already been given by Iran, and the overall picture of the situation.
The surprise yes votes on these Security Council resolutions came from Russia and China. Both of these nations are supposedly allied with the Iranian government and do trade with the Persian Nation. Russia has been openly belligerent to the United States and President Bush’s plan to place strategic missiles in the Eastern Block countries of Europe. China is facing much more scrutiny for its manufactured goods which have been recalled in U.S. markets and is still an active Communist Nation with an atrocious human rights record. Couple this with the United States’ support of Taiwan and you have no big love affair between these two countries.
The new sanctions include the ban of sales to the Iranian nation in materials that are considered to be of duel use. Anything that may be used in the development or manufacturing of nuclear technology is considered to be off the table. Furthermore, the accounts of certain Iranian officials and businesses will be frozen to stop the nation from purchasing such materials from nations that do not abide by these sanctions.
The Security Council has also declared that Iranian ships and transports will be subject to inspections. It is likely that the United States will place itself in the primary role as enforcer of these sanctions and requirements.Mohammad Khazaee, the Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations has declared that they will not abide by these unlawful sanctions and Iran will continue to seek nuclear status.
Just as it was in the time leading up to the war with Iraq we have the United Nations making the rules and the U.S. is the almighty enforcer of these rules. Just as Iraq did not abide by the U.N. sanctions, the Iranians are almost guaranteed to do the same and this opens the door to a future war with Iran. It will only take a small incident, whether provoked or not, to get the United States, Britain, and Israel to start bombing Tehran, totally obliterating its infrastructure.
Iran does a lot of tough talking but they simply do not have the means to back it up against the superior technology of the United States. It is likely that Iran would fall fast and then the U.S. will wind up in another long standing occupation just like Iraq and Afghanistan. At the beginning of the wars with Iraq and Afghanistan there were fears that the Muslim Nations would unite against the Allied Forces, but that did not seem to happen to any extent that has any real consequence.
It appears that Iran is facing opposition to its plans of nuclear proliferation throughout the International community. This may just speak volumes as to how dangerous and real this threat is. It is likely that if the U.S. goes into Iran the backlash may be a little stronger, but for all intents and purposes the operation would go without any real opposition.
Sources
Christian Science Monitor
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