TOUGHNESS ON IRAN, OR JUST WORDS? – AT 9:50 A.M. ET:  President Obama made a (very) brief reference last night to increased pressure on Iran because the Tehran regime has shown no give on its nuclear program.

Problem is, we've heard that line before, and nothing much has actually happened.  The president's policy has been to speak loudly and carry a little stick. 

Some moves appear to be coming, according to AP, but you have to read between the lines, and on all sides of them:

LONDON -- The Obama administration is preparing to circulate proposed tough new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program as early as this week at the United Nations, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The proposed measures, which would target elements of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps under fresh penalties as well financial institutions under existing U.N. sanctions resolutions, are being finalized and prepared for debate in the U.N. Security Council, the officials said.

Yeah.  Been there, done that.  Both Russia and China have veto power in the Council, and China has said bluntly that it is opposed to new sanctions.

The officials would not predict when a vote might take place, but said negotiations on a proposed fourth round of U.S. Security Council sanctions could begin within weeks.

Obama's deadline for Iran to show progress in the nuclear talks was December 31st.  Oh, he'd had a previous deadline in September.  Those deadlines have come and gone, and now we're told that "negotiations" on sanctions might begin "within weeks."  Or is that months?

They must be shivering in Tehran as they watch the Obama administration swing into action, uh, well, within weeks.

With Russia, and in particular China, skeptical of any new sanctions efforts, the Americans have to tread carefully to maintain six-power unity on how to deal with Iran.

Wait a second.  Just what does that sentence mean?  Russia and China oppose new sanctions so we have to tread carefully to maintain "unity"?  What kind of unity could that be?  What are we unified about?

Do you get the feeling that this "get tough on Iran" policy will wind up in the same place as all previous "get tough on Iran" policies?

Our skepticism overflows.  The will seems to be missing.  The teeth seem to be missing.  The Russians and Chinese are definitely missing.

What precisely is our policy, as Iran gets closer and closer to a nuclear bomb?

January 28, 2010