Finally, it appears that the US has run out of patience with the EU-3 and wants to step up the pressure on Teheran to stop its nuclear program. Not only has the US called for the UN Security Council to take action, but we picked up a surprising ally, at least for the moment:

The Bush administration is trying to rally other nations to agree to impose U.N. sanctions on Iran to force it to negotiate an end to its nuclear programs. ...

Britain, France and Germany, negotiating in behalf of the European Union and with U.S. support, has offered Iran economic incentives to stop converting uranium into fuel that could be used for nuclear weapons.

The United States, has offered Iran spare parts for commercial aircraft and a help in becoming a member of the
World Trade Organization.

But with the talks stalemated, the administration clearly is losing patience.

It should have run out of patience months ago. The Iranians have clearly shown that they intend on developing nuclear fuel that could easily convert to fissile material for weapons and have engaged in evasive manuevering to conceal their work. The IAEA has repeatedly reported a lack of compliance on non-proliferation, and the Iranians thumbed their noses at the EU-3 by resuming the work while they continued to insist that progress was being made diplomatically.

How clear has Iranian intransigence become? Even Jacques Chirac is fed up:

The administration evidently has won over President Jacques Chirac of France to take a hard line.

In an ultimatum issued on Monday, Chirac warned Iran it would face censure by the U.N. Security Council if it did not reinstate a freeze on sensitive nuclear activities under an accord reached in Paris in November.

Chirac demonstrated that we cannot rely on him to stick with us at the Security Council, and his "ultimatum" probably produced gales of laughter in Teheran. However, it does provide a measure of how late in the game we have come when even France has decided to draw a line in the sand.

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Tracked on March 30, 2006 3:34 AM