Let UN decide Iran's punishment

The quartet states of the US, Britain, Germany and France want to use sanctions to force change in Iran's nuclear policy so that it is totally clear that the country does not have nuclear weapons. But any new plan for sanctions should be approved at the United Nations, and have the support of Russia, China and India.

Last week, Russia spoke out against "crippling or paralysing sanctions", even though it has agreed in recent weeks that sanctions may be necessary after Iran announced plans to speed up enrichment.

US President Barack Obama is being pushed by the anti-Iranian hawks in Washington, who are calling for tough action and broad sanctions against Iran after last week's IAEA report confirmed that Iran has refused to dismiss accusations of nuclear weaponisation.

Obama has a more subtle plan for sanctions that do not affect all the people of Iran, but rather target the Revolutionary Guards. This would increase the impact of the sanctions and ensure that they are focused on a military target.

It is not clear if Russia has agreed in principle to such targeted sanctions, but the US administration has to work with Russia and China to achieve a global consensus through the United Nations before action is taken.