Irã: um passo longe da bomba atômica?

Iranian sanctions

A step away from the bomb

Sanctions against Iran are far from perfect. But they are far better than the alternatives

Jun 10th 2010

THE resolution against Iran endorsed by the United Nations Security Council on June 9th is the fruit of months of diplomatic toil. Yet even its supporters do not expect this fourth round of sanctions to succeed where the other three did not. Searching ships and bouncing a few cheques is not about to get Iran to change its behaviour, let alone to open its nuclear programme to inspection. Honestly, was it worth the struggle?

Brazil and Turkey thought not. As the authors of a scheme designed to build confidence, by swapping low-enriched uranium from Iran for higher-enriched fuel for a research reactor in Tehran, they voted against the UN resolution (Lebanon abstained). Other critics despair at the way harsh Western plans were watered down by China and Russia, keen to protect their own industries and squeamish about taking on Iran.

And yet, for all their faults, and for all of the frustration they have created, this week’s sanctions are a vital part of holding Iran to account for nuclear proliferation. That is why Iran, in spite of dismissing the sanctions as a “used handkerchief”, has fought them hard (see article).

Nobody could argue with a straight face that this week’s sanctions were unjustified. Iran has failed and failed again in its duty to explain behaviour that looks like a race for the bomb. It secretly built a new enrichment plant inside a mountain near the holy city of Qom, the second time it had been caught out this way. It has been enriching uranium to 20% purity as fast as it can—possibly as fuel for the Tehran reactor, but more likely as a big step towards obtaining the highly enriched material it needs for a weapon. It has refused to share its plans with the UN’s watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency. It has been buying kit that could be used in weapons and working on the missiles that could carry them.

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Read more here/Leia mais aqui: The Economist

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