Empty threats against Iran

Orlando Sentinel: Lost -- The will of the U.N. Security Council. When found, please rush to U.N. headquarters in New York, before Iran passes the point of no return on its way to becoming a nuclear power.
In July, the Security Council passed a resolution threatening Iran with sanctions if it did not stop enriching uranium by the end of August. After three more months of defiance from Iran, the council has failed to back up its threat.
The council's inaction doesn't just undermine whatever authority and credibility the United Nations still has. It gives a green light to Iran in its thinly disguised drive to develop nuclear weapons.
Clearly, it was a mistake for the council not to be ready to impose sanctions as soon as the deadline passed. Since then, Iran's bargaining position has improved as violence has surged in Iraq.
The Bush administration would welcome Iran's help in quelling that chaos. But it would be a bigger mistake to cut a deal allowing Tehran to keep its nuclear program, which could begin turning out weapons a few years from now.
A nuclear-armed Iran could dominate the Persian Gulf region, where two-thirds of the world's oil reserves are located. It could carry out its fanatical president's call to wipe Israel off the map.
Russia has been the main obstacle to sanctions; it has strong economic ties to Iran and a veto on the Security Council. But there are hopeful signs that the Bush administration will soon force Moscow to show where its sympathies lie by calling for a council vote on sanctions. Measures that bar nuclear material and technology from Iran would make the most sense.