The world stutters again
, עודכן
On Nov. 8, the International Atomic Energy Agency succeeded in surprising even itself. It published a harsh report it had authored, officially revealing what Israel knew and has been saying for years: Iran is on the way to having a nuclear weapon. The next day, headlines around the world obviously talked about the bomb -- but the Italian one, not the Iranian one. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was on his way out; it was quite a bombshell.
The IAEA is gathering on Friday in Vienna, and it also met on Thursday, to discuss the report about Iran's nuclear program. Anyone who expected a decision about severe and uncompromising action against Iran on the day the report was published is bound to be disappointed. The draft that was disclosed was critical, but it will likely be toned down in the end because the U.S. and its allies have not succeeded in compelling Russia and China to agree. They both oppose harsh condemnation of Iran. The conclusion from the document is that the world has "serious concerns" about the Iranian nuclear program. But threats and ultimatums against Iran? No need to exaggerate ...
It would be hard to complain about IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano, who allowed this incriminating report against Iran to be written in the first place. But what can we do? Russia, China and the Nonaligned Movement member states have some weight in the institution Amano runs. These countries, by the way, see as much validity in Iran's view that the report is based on "false" information from Western intelligence services as they do in the IAEA report itself.
Get the Israel Hayom newsletter sent to your mailbox!
"Iran threatens and the world stutters," Israel Hayom wrote the day after the report was published. It was legitimate to expect a different reaction from the world, just as it was legitimate to expect a different reaction this time around from the influential individuals in Vienna.
One must understand that Russia and China are playing an extremely dangerous game here. From their point of view, economic interests supersede everything else. Perhaps privately they even blame the West for Iran's nuclear aspirations. Due to the West's adventures in Iraq and Libya, Iran understood that a nuclear weapon was some sort of insurance policy.
President Barack Obama made the ayatollahs' regime a generous offer at the outset of his term: full normalization of relations with Washington in exchange for halting the nuclear project. Tehran was completely uninterested; it sees only the bomb. Since the publication of the IAEA report almost two weeks ago, it appears that the world is more concerned about an Israeli attack than about a nuclear Iran.
Like our newsletter? 'Like' our Facebook page!
טעינו? נתקן! אם מצאתם טעות בכתבה, נשמח שתשתפו אותנו