Let’s Form An Emergency Study Commission!

In a further sign that the UN Security Council has little resolve with which to confront Iran over its nuclear program, the British UN ambassador says the body will need another month to get a report from the IAEA in order to translate “NO!” from Iran’s Farsi language:

The U.N. Security Council will need until mid-September before acting on its threat to punish Iran if Tehran’s leaders flout a Thursday deadline to suspend uranium enrichment as is widely expected, Britain’s U.N. ambassador said Tuesday.
Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry’s prediction seemed to rule out the immediate threat of sanctions against Iran if it disregards the council’s demands – spelled out in a resolution adopted this month – to suspend enrichment by Thursday. Iran has already said it would reject the deadline.
Jones-Parry said that before it can act, the Security Council will need to receive a report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Iran’s compliance with the resolution.
“Once we’ve had the report from the agency, had a further chance to discuss that, capitals will have a clearer view of exactly how this should be carried forward, but I would expect activity here to resume toward the middle of September,” Jones-Parry said.

Perhaps we’re just that much smarter than the UNSC, but we understood what Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meant when he said that Iran would never agree to suspend its uranium-enrichment programs. We understood it when Ayatollah Ali Khameini said it. We understood it when Iranian nuclear negotiator Ari Larijani said it. If the UNSC needs further clarification, we can set it to music and have someone provide sign-language interpretation. It shouldn’t take much effort to provide the latter; only one finger would be required.
It’s precisely this kind of diplomatic obtuseness that frustrates those of us who get lectured on the benefits of working through the League of United Nations. It doesn’t take a study commission to understand all of the ramifications of Iranian intransigence. No means no, even in diplomacy, especially when repeated endlessly and celebrated in grand openings of heavy-water processing plants.
Daniel Freedman puts it more succinctly at It Shines For All — “Read Ahmadinejad’s lips: NO!” At this rate, the global community may find the testicular fortitude to confront Ahmadinejad in October … of 2012.

3 thoughts on “Let’s Form An Emergency Study Commission!”

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  3. What Part Of ‘No’ Don’t They Understand?

    Can someone please explain why it will take another month for the UN to figure out that Iran said NO!
    The U.N. Security Council will need until mid-September before acting on its threat to punish Iran if Tehran’s leaders flout a Thursday deadline…

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