US State Department spokesman McCormack said in a news briefing on August 30 that the foreign ministerial meeting of the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany will held in Berlin next week deciding to again refer the Iran nuclear issue to the UN Security Council. If Iran refuses to implement the resolution of the UN Security Council, the issue of imposing sanctions against it will be discussed, he said. The US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, signaled on Monday that the United States "may bypass the UN Security Council to take punitive measures against Iran if the council fails to do so."

After Iran made response to the six-nation plan, the reaction of the United States was rather low-pitched. Only Danna Perino, a White House spokeswoman, turned up and said the Iranian response did not meet the requirements set by the UN Security Council and the U.S. will discuss with other members of the council on the next move. The State Department likewise maintained that Iran did not meet the conditions set by the resolution of the UN Security Council, but said "the Iranian response was getting careful consideration and review 'as it deserves.'"

Overall, the rare, unprecedented cautiousness shown by the US government is mainly ascribed to the following considerations: First, the unyielding approach of the American diplomacy is generally based on its confident military threat. The present situation, however, has enabled the United States to realize that it cannot impose military attacks on Iran. President George W. Bush is neither capable of nor inclined to "stir up a hornet's nest" again before the mid-term election. If he dares launch another warfare, he will utterly isolated in the international community, and even Britain and Australia, its sworn allies, will not follow it. The just-concluded Lebanon-Israel conflict makes the United States realize that air strikes alone cannot resolve thorny problems.

It has been disclosed that Pentagon has worked out the action plan log ago to intrude into Iran or "strike at its vital nuclear sites", but an inference show that the final objective of destroying its underground nuclear establishments cannot be reached with such strikes. Despite his harsh criticism on Iran, Bush, in a major foreign policy address recently also explicitly said he would of course want to settle the issue through diplomatic channels.

Secondly, the catastrophic outcome of the Iraq War has led new conservative forces to lose power in the US center stage. Since the start of its second term of office, the Bush Administration has been swaying from unilateralism to multilateralism in its foreign affairs strategy. The White House began adjusting its strategy early last year, noting that "peaceful nuclear energy is the right of the Iranian nation." If Iran halt its nuclear enrichment activities, the United States can partake in the direct negotiations with Iran and agreed to a package of incentive measures. But as Iran still kept to its right to the development and use of nuclear energy, the only choice the US government has to take is no other than sanctions or punitive measures. The United States is busy pressing ahead with its work to impose sanction against Iran both inside and outside the UN Security Council

Thirdly, Worries for oil supplies have also kept the United States from making rash moves. If such a big oil producer like Iran exit from the world oil market, it will lead to the sky-rocketing oil price.

Fourthly, it will take three to 10 years for Iran to make nuclear weapons, according to assessments of US information agencies or experts, and this is also another cause for the suspension of the use of force.

At present, the United States will persuade Russia and China to support economic sanctions against Iran before its imposition of its unilateral sanctions and, if this fails, it will form a Western alliance, including EU, Japan, Canada and Australia, to punish Iran. The contents of the sanctions may, according to media reports, include restricting on the overseas trips of Iranian officials, freezing Iran's assets overseas, putting limits to its international finance transactions, and curbing the inflows of arms, weaponry equipment and the related materials of the nuclear industry. Either to Iran or to the U.S., the settlement of the issue through negotiations via diplomatic channels is the most ideal choice.

By People's Daily Online