Saul Singer of the Jerusalem Post has an interesting piece on Iran here.
But Iran is not Libya, Iraq, or North Korea. It does not consider itself a pariah state, nor is it as self-isolated from the world. Though an oil exporter, Iran must import 40 percent of its refined fuel from abroad. Cutting off diplomatic ties, scientific exchanges, and the right to participate in sports events, such as the 2006 World Cup, in addition to the menu of sanctions that were imposed on Libya, would deal a devastating blow to the legitimacy of the Iranian regime. What matters most now is speed and seriousness. Weak, lowest common denominator sanctions could be worse than nothing. If China or Russia are unwilling to allow the Security Council to impose a “Libya-plus” sanctions package, the US, UK, France and Germany should impose such sanctions as a group, and encourage all free nations to join them. Iran is betting, even though it much weaker than the democracies it confronts, that the West will not have the will to stand up to its threats. The UN may continue fail its own Charter by proving an obstacle to, rather than a vehicle for, such collective action. But this is not a reason for free nations to allow a single rogue state to usher in a future of increasing terrorism and nuclear blackmail… at best.
