If there was any reasonable doubt about the intent of Iran’s nuclear program, you know the New York Times would be among the loudest voices seeking to silence those who alerted the world to the dangers of the Islamist regime acquiring nuclear weapons. But, as today’s editorial in the Grey Lady indicates, it just isn’t possible any longer to deny what has long been apparent: Tehran is working feverishly to build a bomb with which to threaten both Israel and the rest of the Middle East.

Since the International Atomic Energy Agency was among the doubters about U.S. claims Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, the IAEA’s recent reports have been sobering reading for those who were skeptical about the alarms sounded about Iran. And the IAEA appears to have convinced the Times editorial board there isn’t really any more doubt about what Tehran is up to.

It must be considered progress if even the Times is willing to admit the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn is that Iran’s aim is the production of nuclear weapons. The Stuxnet virus may have slowed down the Iranian program but that turned out to be more of a delay tactic than anything else. But though the editorial makes it clear a consensus about the nature of the problem reaches across the ideological divide between left and right, the paper seems unwilling to think seriously about what can be done about it.

Both the Times and the Obama administration continue to pretend tougher sanctions are the answer. The Obama administration has spent the last year and a half working for international sanctions against Iran but again, even the Times has noticed these half-measures haven’t worked. Indeed, as the paper has itself reported, even the United States hasn’t fully enforced existing sanctions. While the Times claims (more out of hope than anything else), “sanctions have begun to bite,” Iran hasn’t taken the West’s displeasure with their nuclear ambitions very seriously and with good reason.

Were the international community to unite to completely isolate Iran economically, banning all trade and restricting their ability to export or import petroleum products, there would be real hope the regime might crack. But after years of intense diplomacy, it is clear such a plan is a virtual impossibility. Too many countries benefit from dealing with Iran while others, like Russia and China, simply won’t allow America to succeed on this point.

That means sooner or later, the administration and the Times will have to have consider whether the prospect of an Iranian bomb is serious enough to warrant something more than talk. If not, their acknowledgement of Iran’s intentions is worthless.