STIFF WARNING ON IRAN – AT 6:23 P.M. ET:  A breath of fresh air from the usually stale, and corrupt, United Nations.  It looks like the newly installed head of the International Atomic Energy Agency is taking his job seriously.  From The Wall Street Journal:

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog said it has information suggesting Iran may be working to build a nuclear warhead, an assessment that could escalate the U.S. and other Western governments' confrontation with Iran over its nuclear activities.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, a Vienna-based U.N. body, said in a confidential report Thursday that Iran has impeded agency efforts to establish the true purpose of Tehran's nuclear program.

"The information available to the agency...raises concerns about the possible existence in Iran of past or current undisclosed activities related to the development of a nuclear payload for a missile," IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano wrote in the report.

The expression of concern over the "weaponization" of enriched uranium is a first for the agency.

The IAEA's first report under its new director general underscores what senior Obama administration officials see as a shift at the agency toward a tougher, factually based approach to Iran's nuclear program. One senior U.S. official said Mr. Amano is sticking strictly to the watchdog's responsibilities of ensuring that nuclear safeguards are obeyed.

Egyptian Mohamed ElBaradei, the last director general, saw the IAEA's role more broadly, asserting it in matters of war, peace and international stability.

Translated into English:  He saw his role as protecting the Muslim world, from which he came and to which he returned.  The man was a disgrace, which is probably why he was given the Nobel Peace Prize. 

We seem to be getting closer to the truth.  But there are no serious signs that nations are prepared to enact the kind of crippling sanctions that may actually work to change Iran's behavior. 

At least now, though, under its new leadership, the IAEA may have some teeth...until they're pulled by the powers that be at the UN.

February 18, 2010