Nuke threat:

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran made another blustering claim this week: that his scientists are tripling the size of their nuclear fuel program. The fact that it made barely a diplomatic ripple is another reminder that the major powers are adrift on one of the major security challenges of the day. What makes it more frightening is that everyone agrees that Iran is moving closer to mastering the hardest part of building a nuclear weapon.

The big players - the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - are scheduled to meet later this month in Shanghai to discuss the problem. They need to agree on a list of new sanctions with a lot more bite: a ban on dealings with major Iranian banks; a ban on arms sales; a ban on new investments in Iran. They need to warn, credibly, of even tougher sanctions to come.

At the same time, Washington needs to make Iran a serious offer to talk about everything, including security assurances and diplomatic and economic relations, if Iran is willing give up its fuel program and cooperate fully with inspectors. Sadly, there’s no sign anything like this is being considered in any of the big power capitals. Despite Ahmadinejad’s bombast, Iran’s program is having serious technical problems. There is still time for creativity and courage. — International Herald Tribune