It has been five months since the United Nations passed Resolution 1747 which banned the supply of nuclear materials and technology to Iran and froze assets linked to the country’s nuclear program. Despite Resolution 1747 and its predecessor 1746, Iran continues to proceed with its focus on its uranium enrichment program.

Sanction actions in both resolutions were significantly reduced and are basically ineffective due to the fact that both China and Russia are Iraq’s biggest trading partners and would have vetoed the stronger U.N. Security Council Resolution proposals favored by both Europe and the United States.  Resolution 1746 was passed by the U.N. Security Council to hold Iran accountable for not suspending its nuclear enrichment program.

Iran claims to need nuclear fuel for a civilian energy program but the fear is that a nuclear weapons development program is their real intention. The fear is based on the fact that Iran is an overt sponsor to terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. Iran is also supporting and arming Shia militias in Iraq and Afghanistan. Fear is also prevalent in the Arab world as Iran would become the first state in the region with nuclear capabilities.

World fear is further advanced by remarks from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who in October of 2005 lambasted Israel and Zionism and quoted the late Ayatollah Khomeini calling for Israel to be "wiped out from the map“. The Iranian president then said: "And God willing, with the force of God behind it, we shall soon experience a world without the United States and Zionism."

Several months later, the world heard the following quote from the Iranian President speaking at a press conference at the OIC summit in Mecca, Ahmadinejad said: "Some European countries insist on saying that during World War II, Hitler burned millions of Jews. And they insist so strongly on this issue that anyone who denies it is condemned and sent to prison“. Although we don’t believe this claim, the Iranian president continued, let's suppose what the Europeans say is true.... Let's give some land to the Zionists in Europe or in Germany or Austria. We will also support it. He added: They faced injustice in Europe, so why do the repercussions fall on the Palestinians?"

In April of 2006, The President of Iran again lashed out at Israel and said it was "heading toward annihilation".  He called Israel a “permanent threat” to the Middle East and referred to the Holocaust as a “myth”. He referred to Israel as, “a dried tree that will be eliminated by one storm.”

There are several news stories over the last several weeks, that when viewed in total, indicate that the Iranian nuclear crisis may be entering a new and potentially more dangerous phase. The news items are as follows:

According to the Washington Post, The Bush administration is moving toward blacklisting Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "terrorist" organization, subjecting at least part of the entity to financial sanctions in a new move against the Islamic republic. The Washington Post, in a report published on its website on August 14, said the administration wants to announce the sanctions before the U.N. General Assembly meets next month in New York.

Also, Reuters reported the following on July 10, 2007, “The U.S. Navy has sent a third aircraft carrier to its Fifth Fleet area of operations, which includes Gulf waters close to Iran. Enterprise (aircraft carrier) provides navy power to counter the assertive, disruptive and coercive behavior of some countries, as well as support our soldiers and marines in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

There are more indications that the Iranian crisis is about to enter a new and more dangerous phase in the White House response on July 13, 2007, to the Joe Lieberman Amendment (S2011) in the defense spending bill in Congress which would in effect censure Iran , “The Administration strongly opposes amendments to the bill that restrict the ability of the United States to deal effectively with the threats to regional security posed by the conduct of Iran, including Iran's efforts to develop nuclear weapons. …If the bill were presented to the President with provisions that would prevent the President from protecting America and allied and cooperating nations from threats posed by Iran, the President's senior advisers would recommend he vetoed the bill.”

Finally, In Israel a significant election victory was achieved yesterday by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of Israel’s, right wing Likud party. Netanyahu is currently well ahead in public opinion polls and could become the next Prime Minister of Israel within months. He also fears the threat of a nuclear Iran to Israel. Netanyahu left few doubts about his solution to the problem in Iran in December 2005 when he said the solution was “a pre-emptive strike similar to the 1981 attack ordered by then-Prime Minister Menachem Begin that destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor." I will continue the tradition established by Menachem Begin, who did not allow Iraq to develop such a nuclear threat against Israel, and by a daring and courageous act gave us two decades of tranquility," Netanyahu told the Maariv Daily. "I believe that this is what Israel has to do."

His statements from November of 2006 also point to a fear of an Iranian nuclear capability: "It's 1938 and Iran is Germany. And Iran is racing to arm itself with atomic bombs,” Netanyahu told delegates to the annual United Jewish Communities General Assembly, repeating the line several times, like a chorus, during his address. "Believe him and stop him," the opposition leader said of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "This is what we must do. Everything else pales before this. "While the Iranian president "denies the Holocaust," Netanyahu said, "He is preparing another Holocaust for the Jewish state."

From Tel Aviv to Washington, in Europe, the Middle East, and throughout the West, the spectre of a nuclear Iran is certain to dominate the news during the next several months. This international crisis appears to be about ready to escalate once again.

Image : Msnbcmedia1.msn.com

Update on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 at 03:50PM by Tom Smith

This is being reported today by Fox news: 

WASHINGTON —  A recent decision by German officials to withhold support for any new sanctions against Iran has pushed a broad spectrum of officials in Washington to develop potential scenarios for a military attack on the Islamic regime, FOX News confirmed Tuesday.

Germany — a pivotal player among three European nations to rein in Iran's nuclear program over the last two-and-a-half years through a mixture of diplomacy and sanctions supported by the United States — notified its allies last week that the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel refuses to support the imposition of any further sanctions against Iran that could be imposed by the U.N. Security Council

The announcement was made at a meeting in Berlin that brought German officials together with Iran desk officers from the five member states of the Security Council. It stunned the room, according to one of several Bush Administration and foreign government sources who spoke to FOX News, and left most Bush administration principals concluding that sanctions are dead.

The Germans voiced concern about the damaging effects any further sanctions on Iran would have on the German economy — and also, according to diplomats from other countries, gave the distinct impression that they would privately welcome, while publicly protesting, an American bombing campaign against Iran's nuclear facilities.