Be careful who you threaten

Brimming with confidence, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad challenged the UN Security Council over a third round of sanctions it may impose against his country. The Security Council has for some considerable time been trying to bring Iran to heel over its development of nuclear energy. Iran claims it is only for domestic purposes, but many countries, principally led by the US and the UK, think otherwise; they believe it is ultimately aimed at the production of nuclear weapons.

It could be paranoia on the part of the US and UK, buttressed by the permanent members of the Security Council, who seem to be working on the principle that although they already have nuclear weapons, Iran can't have them. So to reinforce their demands, successive sanctions have been applied against Iran, with each round being more inclusive than the previous in the anticipation it will get Iran to change course. But so far it hasn't worked - if anything it has made Iran, or more precisely Ahmadinejad, even more determined to continue with the nuclear programme.

A recent report issued by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) claims that Iran has been more cooperative than in the past, a statement that was greeted with glee by Ahmadinejad. However, he had apparently overlooked the caveat from the IAEA which says that more can be done, which resulted in the US making yet more strident demands upon Iran. With threats of more sanctions and fears of the possibility of some sort of attack against Iran in April, the issue cannot be taken lightly, despite Ahmadinejad claiming the UN resolutions even if imposed for 100 years, will not harm Iran.

But Iran does have a ready response if the UN gets too aggressive. As the second largest supplier of oil in Opec, Iran could always turn its taps off and watch global oil prices spiral with its domino-like effects.