Today, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejected talks with the European Union over his country’s nuclear program and said he would discuss this subject only with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
This development followed yesterday’s successful maneuvering by Russia and China, which together forced European nations to drop their efforts to have the IAEA Board of Governors adopt a resolution targeting Iran’s nuclear program. The failure of Britain, France, and Germany to increase the pressure on Tehran came a day after the U.N. Security Council imposed a third set of sanctions on Iran for failing to halt its enrichment of uranium. Some nations on the IAEA board felt that a second resolution in a single week might antagonize the mullahs. As one Asian diplomat said, “The board doesn’t need to compete with the Security Council.”
The failure of the governing board to take up the issue is an unmistakable defeat for the West and will have consequences. As an initial matter, a stiff IAEA resolution condemning Tehran might have had a bigger effect on the Iranian regime than Monday’s Security Council resolution. In January, Ahmadinejad said “Nobody except the International Atomic Energy Agency has the right to make decisions or impose anything on the Iranian nation.” He is undoubtedly insincere—he is not about to listen to anyone who disagrees with him—but he probably made that statement because developing nations, which have traditionally befriended Iran, comprise almost half of the IAEA’s Board of Governors. In short, a board resolution would have strongly signaled intolerance of Iran’s delaying tactics by its friends as well as its adversaries.
Yesterday’s setback is also a signal to the West. The European retreat demonstrates that Moscow and Beijing are calling the tune on issues involving Iran. We should remember they similarly demanded a slow pace on sanctions on North Korea, thereby giving Pyongyang time to succeed in weaponizing the atom. In short, the Russian and Chinese approach has already failed to stop nuclearization this decade. Now, the U.S. and Europe are letting these two large authoritarian states adopt the same maneuver. It is grossly irresponsible for the Chinese and Russians to support Iran’s efforts to build a nuclear weapon. And we are inexcusably feckless if we permit them to do so—again.
