It looks like Iran is headed for referral to the United Nations Security Council. After rumours that the Russians and Chinese were throwing up big walls to the EU3 referring Iran directly to the UNSC for their behaviour around nuclear issues, a document has now been submitted to the IAEA board that directly indicates Irans non-compliance with IAEA rules.
That assessment of non-compliance, if approved by the IAEA board, is a direct breach of IAEA protocols, and thus an automatic trip to the UNSC.
Apparently, a majority of those on the IAEA board support referral to the UNSC, so it is expected that by this time next week, Iran will find itself under the microscope of the Security Council.
It’s hard to tell what will happen after the referral to the UNSC. Russia and China have made their support for Iran clear, so to convince them to hold back their veto will be difficult. However, I have seen multiple reports that indicate that US intelligence officials have actually provided very impressive and convincing evidence tying Irans nuclear power ambition to a wider weapons initiative. This is what led to the EU3s push to refer Iran… and apparently it may be enough to quiet the objections from other Veto powers.
In short. Iran is not what Iraq was… certainly the newly “elected” President Ahmadinejad is not Saddam Hussein, but he is one thing Saddam was not, and that is unpredictable, and ready for war.
We are starting down what could be a very very dangerous road. Much more dangerous than Iraq or Afghanistan (which Iran happens to be squeezed between) or North Korea. Iran is a real threat, we must not get ahead of ourselves.