On Thursday, for the first time, North Korea formally admitted that it possesses nuclear weapons. In so doing, the Stalinist state made clear that the Bush administration's recent policy of avoiding public censure of North Korea, in the hope of reigniting the six-party talks on its illicit nuclear program, was at best ineffective and at worst counterproductive.

The North Korean example is worth noting because it bears significantly on the current state of international reckoning with Iran's program to develop nuclear weapons.

Over the past week or so, the Bush administration has made repeated statements to the effect that it has no intention for now of taking any military action against Iranian nuclear sites, but rather wishes to concentrate on solving the issue through diplomacy. This, in spite of Israeli Mossad Chief Meir Dagan's statement last month that "by the end of 2005, the Iranians will reach the point of no return from the technological perspective of creating a uranium-enrichment capability."

Today, two diplomatic plans for contending with Iran are on the table. The first is the attempt by France, Germany and Britain to reach an agreement with Iran whereby, in exchange for nuclear fuel and economic cooperation and assistance, the Iranian government will abandon its nuclear program.

The second is the Bush administration's proposal to have the issue of Iran's nuclear weapons program transferred from the International Atomic Energy Agency to the UN Security Council, where the US wishes to raise the possibility of UN-backed sanctions against the mullocracy.

During her meetings with European leaders and the press in the course of her travels this week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sent out contradictory signals. On the one hand, she told Fox News Wednesday that the Iranians "need to hear that the discussions that they are in with the Europeans are not going to be a kind of way station where they are allowed to continue their activities, that there's going to be an end to this and that they are going to end up in the Security Council."

Yet later in the day, Rice clarified that the US has "set no deadline, no timeline," for how long talks between the Europeans and the Iranians could continue before the matter was moved to the Security Council.

For their part, the Europeans have dismissed the American proposal, insisting that America support their negotiations now taking place in Geneva.

The Iranian government's reaction to the US plan has been caustic. Responding to Rice's statements on Wednesday, Iranian president Muhammad Khatami said, "We consider enrichment our clear right and will never give it up. We suspended it voluntarily to show our goodwill."

Khatami also made a thinly veiled threat that Iran would vacate its signature to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if provoked, saying, "If we feel others are not meeting their promises, under no circumstances would we be committed to continue fulfilling ours. And we will adopt a new policy, the consequences of which are massive and would be the responsibility of those who broke their commitments."

In the meantime, on the ground, Security Council veto-wielding members are making it clear that far from supporting sanctions against Iran, they are warming their ties to Teheran.

Iran's official news agency, IRNA, reported on Wednesday that Standard Charter Bank of Britain will be the second European bank to open a branch in the Iranian free trade zone on the island of Kish. The first bank, the Iran-Europe Commercial Bank, opened last month and is jointly owned by German and Iranian investors.

Also Wednesday, the Russian Embassy in Teheran announced that over the weekend former Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov will lead the heads of more than 30 Russian companies on a visit to Iran, where they will sign an agreement setting up a joint Russian-Iranian trade council.

More disturbingly, on Monday it was reported that the head of Russia's Atomic Energy Agency, Aleksandr Rumyantsev, will be traveling to Iran later in the month to sign an agreement for supplying Iran with nuclear fuel for its Russian-built nuclear plant in Bushehr. And on Sunday, Iran and Russia signed an agreement for a joint Russian, French and German program to develop the Zohre satellite for Iran. The program includes the provision of training for Iranian scientists that will enable them to develop independent capabilities in space launches and technologies.

As for China, this week Undersecretary of State John Bolton said in Tokyo that the US would suspend business with Chinese companies that provide sensitive weapons technology to Iran and other countries trying to build weapons of mass destruction. Bolton admitted, however, that the Chinese government has taken no action against China North Industries Corp., with which the US has already suspended trade links due to its proliferation activities.

So, on the one hand, the Europeans are pursuing an agreement with the Iranians that has no chance of ending or significantly slowing down Iran's program to acquire nuclear weapons. And on the other hand, the Bush administration proposes referring the issue to the UN Security Council, where every veto-wielding member aside from the US is either actively assisting Iran's nuclear program or actively fostering ties with Iran in a manner that rules out any chance of a sanctions resolution getting adopted.

In light of this, can it be concluded that America is dropping the ball on Iran just as it apparently dropped the ball on North Korea ? taking a soft stand toward a regime that views softness as a sign of weakness, not as a diplomatic opportunity?

Perhaps. Continued...