The really big worry....Iran!

Robert Cornwell, writing in The Independent, suggests that the financial crisis which has hit the US, and the rest of the world - and been the focus of its attention - is actually eclipsed by Iran's President and that country's onward march in developing nuclear power.

"Live in the US any length of time, and one thing you soon realise: the country, be that its media or its government, can only focus on one crisis at a time. Right now, that failing is eminently forgiveable. Nothing is more pressing than a financial meltdown that unless it is tackled in days – or a very few weeks at the most – could lead to the Great Depression of the 21st century.

But amid the turmoil, another crisis has been forgotten. Once it was measured in years, now the critical moment may arrive in months. Does anyone remember a certain country called Iran, and its suspected plan to build a nuclear weapon?

Lehman Bros and Fannie Mae may have forced Mahmoud Ahmedinejad from the headlines. But Tehran's nuclear programme if anything is accelerating. In a report that was swamped by the drama on Wall Street, the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, last week effectively threw up its hands in despair.

Teheran continues to refuse to answer questions about its past nuclear activities, the IAEA said, even as it was stepping up its production of enriched uranium. Some experts believe that within 12 months Iran may have amassed enough to build a bomb. And what then?

The impasse looks more intractable and perilous than ever. The truculence of Ahmedinejad only grows, as he revels in this period of deepening American weakness. Action at the UN is stymied by resistance from Russia and China. With relations between Moscow and Washington at their chilliest since the Cold War, there is scant prospect of Security Council agreement on the tougher sanctions that might give Teheran pause – perhaps an arms embargo, and the withdrawal of Russia's promise to supply an advanced air defence system to protect Iran's nuclear sites."

Cornwell may well have a point. Just read what the Iranian President had to say - as reported on TimesOnLine, here - at the present UN General Assembly Session he is attending and addressed:

"A defiant Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed yesterday to press ahead with Iran’s nuclear programme, telling the United Nations that he would not bow to pressure from “bullying countries” controlled by “Zionists murderers”.

The Iranian President’s vow came as news emerged that Russia had scuppered plans for talks on new sanctions on Iran in retaliation for US calls for sanctions over its military adventure in Georgia."