Does the United States really need Russia? According to many pundits, we need Russia more than it needs us. Russia could cause a lot of problems if we’re not careful.
I say bunk to that nonsense. It’s time to throw down the gauntlet. If Russia is going to terrorize its neighbors and exercise strategic unhelpfulness on [...]

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Isaac Ben-Israel, a former Israeli Air Force general and now member of the ruling Kadima party, spoke with SPIEGEL about the limits of sanctions in dealing with Iran’s nuclear program. He says Israel is prepared to mount a military strike against the mullah regime if diplomacy fails. more…

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The Israeli government no longer believes that sanctions can prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons. A broad consensus in favor of a military strike against Tehran’s nuclear facilities — without the Americans, if necessary — is beginning to take shape.
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Western pressure has failed to stop Iran’s nuclear program from advancing, its president said on Wednesday, a day after the United States and the European Union warned of more sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
“With God’s help today (the Iranian nation) have gained victory and the enemies cannot do a damned thing,” Ahmadinejad said in a [...]

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With Iran unyielding, President Bush presses Europeans to punish Tehran for its nuclear program
The vow of further sanctions ordered up by individual governments—or perhaps across the 27-nation EU—may be the only realistic step left to escalate pressure on Iran. According to a senior European diplomat, the United Nations Security Council is unlikely to take further [...]

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Israel wants to put more international pressure on Iran over its disputed nuclear programme, suggesting an US-imposed naval blockade and tougher sanctions, local media reported on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert raised the idea of a naval blockade in talks with the Democratic speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, during her visit to [...]

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In these two articles, AEI’s Danielle Pletka and John R. Bolton bring us up to date and discuss the larger implications of developments since Kim Jong Il pledged to give up his nuclear ambitions in exchange for diplomatic recognition and foreign aid. Pletka reminds readers that since North Korea signed the 1994 accord, it has [...]

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From the moment it began, it was clear the confrontation between Iran and Britain over the capture of fifteen British military personnel would be no isolated incident. First, there is the nuclear issue. Britain has sought to internationalize the dispute by raising complaints at the UN Security Council and European Union, both of which are [...]

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(by Martin Weiss)
3/26/2007 8:00:00 AM

Martin Weiss here with an urgent update on the breaking Iran crisis and its potential impact on your money.

On Friday, precisely when the United Nations was preparing to slap new, tougher sanctions on Iran, President Ahmadinejad’s gunships captured 15 British sailors and marines on a routine patrol off the waters of southern Iraq.

And just in the past 24 hours, Iran’s leaders have unleashed the most venomous diatribes against the West since their capture of U.S. embassy hostages nearly 28 years ago:

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman condemned the British for their “interventionist and suspicious move” against Iran’s sovereignty.
After moving the 15 British captives to Tehran for “interrogation,” Iran promptly declared that they “have confessed the illegal entry of territorial waters of the Islamic republic,” an act of “blatant aggression.”
500 Iranian students, gathered on the shore near where the soldiers were captured, shouted “Death to Britain” and “Death to America,” urging the government to hold the detainees until the U.S. grants Iran a series of unlikely concessions.
British officials are hoping — and praying — that the Iranians will come to their senses and release the hostages within the next few days.

However, on Saturday, even as British diplomats were trying to reason with Iranian officials in London, the U.N. Security Council in New York not only voted unanimously to pass the new sanctions against Iran … but also promised even tougher punishment within 60 days.

This confirms and double-confirms everything Larry Edelson has been warning you about.

Our view: Even if the current hostage crisis is resolved, there’s nothing of substance that could soon end the broader, brewing conflict with Iran.

Some analysts still hope the Iranians will finally respond favorably to the carrots the U.N. continues to offer.

But don’t hold your breath, because, right now …

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