Britain pushes for military option to retrain Tehran

BRITAIN is pressing for a United Nations resolution that would open the way for punitive sanctions and even the use of force if Iran refuses to halt its controversial nuclear programme. In a confidential letter obtained by The Times, a top British diplomat outlines a strategy for winning Russian and Chinese support by early summer for a so-called Chapter VII resolution demanding that Iran cease its nuclear activities.

If the Government in Tehran refused to comply with such a resolution, the UN security council would be legally compelled to enforce it. The strategy marks a significant hardening of the Government’s position. It contrasts with public statements by Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, this month. On March 13 he insisted that military action was “inconceivable” and that the dispute with Iran “has to be resolved by peaceful democratic means”.

The confidential letter was written only three days later by John Sawers, the political director at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and sent to his American, French and German counterparts. “They (the Iranians) will need to know that more serious measures are likely,” wrote Mr Sawers, in a letter first leaked to the Associated Press. “This means putting the Iran dossier on to a Chapter VII basis.” He suggested making a suspension of all Iranian enrichment by Iran “a mandatory requirement of the Security Council, in a resolution we would aim to adopt, I say, early May.”

Mark Fitzpatrick, an expert on nuclear proliferation at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that securing a Chapter VII resolution would provide the international community with a “stick” it could use against Iran. “It would be an important breakthrough,” he said. “It would open the door to sanctions and other measures.” Before wielding any stick, however, Mr Sawers proposed that the international community give Iran a final chance in the form of a “revised offer” of incentives as a face-saving solution to allow it to back down peacefully.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2097772,00.html

Good. Luck. The Russians and Chinese know how the US interprets these things now. There'll be no slipping one past them.