home > by publication type > daily analysis > Facing Off with Iran at the UN
Email
| Author: |
|---|
Iran’s president will make another much-anticipated speech at the UN in New York, where his country's nuclear program faces scrutiny. (AP Images/ Vahid Salemi)
It is five years since President Bush came to the United Nations to warn of the “grave and gathering danger” posed by Saddam Hussein. The ensuing U.S. invasion of Iraq set off a debate that continues to this day over U.S. leadership and the organization’s role in global security. Now Bush takes the UN General Assembly podium with Washington stepping up warnings about another Middle Eastern threat—Iran. His chances for strengthening an international coalition appear at least as uncertain (CSMonitor) as they were prior to the Iraq war. Scheduled speeches by Bush and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on September 25 come amid planned high-level diplomacy among the five permanent UN Security Council members over whether to expand sanctions a third time for Iran’s refusal to suspend its uranium-enrichment program.
The Bush administration and many of its Western allies worry Iran is intent on building nuclear weapons, though Tehran insists it is exercising its right to peaceful nuclear power. Ahmadinejad reiterated that on the program 60 Minutes on Sunday, and again during a speech at Columbia University, a two-hour verbal spar in which the Iranian president offered bewildering thoughts (NYT) on homosexuals and the Holocaust. But Ahmadinejad's views on proliferation were less opaque (Reuters): “We don't believe in nuclear weapons, period,” he said. While UN sanctions have so far been more symbolic than effective, Washington has ratcheted up other efforts to pressure the regime economically, with Treasury Department pressure on allies to tighten financial dealings (McClatchy) with Iran showing progress. A new wrinkle in the debate is the tougher stance adopted by France. The Economist describes French President Nicolas Sarkozy as “palpably impatient” about the lack of progress on new UN sanctions against Iran. His foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, made waves in mid-September by suggesting a military attack on Iran was possible, before stressing his focus was on a diplomatic offensive (FT).
Echoing the UN debate on Iraq, Russia and China have signaled they do not support tougher sanctions at this time. In closed-door meetings in New York on September 21, divisions among the permanent five Security Council members over the timing of new sanctions were apparent (WashPost); Russia and China have stressed that a new agreement (PDF) reached by the UN nuclear agency and Iran provides for a less antagonistic way to achieve results. The agreement gives Iran three months to start clearing up ambiguities about its nuclear projects to confirm that they are for peaceful uses.
Bush and Ahmadinejad’s speeches at this year’s UN General Assembly will likely be studied for differences from their speeches at last year’s event. At those meetings, Bush appealed to Iranian moderates and said the United States was working toward a diplomatic solution. Experts will also watch Ahmadinejad's comments for any rifts with his country's senior leadership. Two fellows at the Middle East Media Research Institute write of emerging cracks on nuclear policy. CFR Senior Fellow Ray Takeyh argues that both Washington and Tehran would be better served by dealing with each other privately and directly, especially on security efforts in Iraq.
For all the focus on Washington and Tehran, however, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is devoting his first General Assembly session to a series of smaller meetings, focusing on issues like climate change, Darfur, Middle East peace, and Afghanistan. William H. Luers, president of the UN Association of the United States, says Ban is seeking to place the United Nations at the center of problem solving in world’s crises, “rather than leaving issues to the unmanageable environment of the general debate.”
Weigh in on this issue by emailing CFR.org.
To order Task Force reports, Council Special Reports, and Critical Policy Choices, please call, fax, or order online from our distributor, the Brookings Institution Press: phone +1.800.537.5487, fax +1.410.516.6998.
For information on other reports that are not for sale, or for general publications information, please call +1.212.434.9516 or email publications@cfr.org.
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
This report finds that nuclear weapons will remain a fundamental element of U.S. national security in the near term, and makes recommendations on how to ensure the safety, security, and reliability of the U.S. deterrent nuclear force, prevent nuclear terrorism, and strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime.
About Independent Task Forces at CFR
Complete list of Task Force reports
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
To request permission to reprint or reuse CFR material, please fill out this permissions request form (PDF), referring to the instructions on page 1.
Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.