If, somehow, you are not convinced that the inmates are in charge of the asylum that is Iran this story should clear that up for you.

Iran threatened the United States with “harm and pain” Wednesday for its role in hauling Tehran before the U.N. Security Council over its nuclear program.

Is that clear enough?

I guess they disagree with our reasoning.

But the United States and its European allies said Iran’s nuclear intransigence left the world no choice but to ask for Security Council action. The council could impose economic and political sanctions on Iran.

The statements were delivered to the 35-member board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is meeting to focus on Tehran’s refusal to freeze uranium enrichment.

The meeting is in effect the last step before the Security Council begins considering Iran’s nuclear activities and international fears they could be misused to make weapons. It began with both Iran and nations which oppose its enrichment plans sticking to their positions, reflecting the deadlock that prompted the IAEA board to seek Security Council intervention.

I am no fan of the UN and I am under no illusion that economic and political sanctions will have any effect on the Iranian march toward having nuclear weapons. More than that, I think that their words make clear how they intend to respond to any international pressure.

As clear as this:

“The United States has the power to cause harm and pain,” said a statement delivered by the Iranian delegation. “But the United States is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if that is the path that the U.S. wishes to choose, let the ball roll.”

The statement did not elaborate on what Iran meant by “harm and pain,” and Iranian officials were not immediately available to comment.

That seems pretty clear to me, but I guess everyone doesn’t quite get it.

But diplomats accredited to the meeting and in contact with the Iranians said the statement could be a veiled threat to use oil as an economic weapon.

Iran is the second-largest producer within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and a boycott could target Europe, China or India.

The republic also could cause difficulties in southern Iraq. On Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld accused Tehran of dispatching elements of its Revolutionary Guard to stir trouble inside Iraq.

You’re kidding me. That’s what they mean? R-i-i-i-ght.

But we’re the bad guys.

Iran also attacked “warmongers in Washington” for what it said was an unjust accusation that Tehran’s nuclear intentions were mainly for military use. It also suggested America was vulnerable, despite its strength.

“Surely we are not naive about the United States’ … intention to flex muscles,” the statement said. “But we also see the bone fractures underneath.”

It also threatened broader retaliation, without being specific, saying Iran “will adapt our policy and adjust our approach to conform with the new exigencies.”

How dare we accuse them of having nefarious purposes for their program. U.S. delegate Gregory Schulte explains the rationale.

[...]Iran’s decision to curtail agency inspections, its expanding uranium enrichment program and worrying conclusions by IAEA inspectors that suggest at least past interest in nuclear arms as contributing to “mounting international concerns” about Tehran’s nuclear intentions.

[...]

Schulte listed Tehran’s possession of plans that could only be used to make nuclear warheads, links between its nuclear programs and the military, and its determination to develop a large-scale enrichment program that could be misused to make nuclear arms.

“IAEA inspectors have no doubt this information was expressly intended for the fabrication of nuclear weapons components,” Schulte said of documents showing how to form fissile material into warheads.

Here is what I think our response should be, “We’ll see your Harm and Pain, and raise you Shock and Awe.”

Linked with TMH’s Bacon Bits Bacon Break — Goblet of Goodness, Don Surber’s Best of Wednesday, The Mudville Gazette Open Post, and basil’s blog picnic.

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Tags: IAEA, Iran, nuclear weapons, U.N.-Security-Council, War on Terrorism