Is War against Iran Inevitable?

The Obama administration, in apparent concert with British and Canadian authorities, issued a statement yesterday, condemning Iran's nuclear development activities, and announcing a new round of sanctions.  "As long as Iran continues down this dangerous path, the United States will continue to find ways, both in concert with our partners and through our own actions to isolate and increase the pressure upon the Iranian regime," the statement said.

The concert of statements follow a report issued earlier this month by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that asserts that Iran is developing nuclear weapons--that they are building hi-tech precision detonators essential for a nuclear device, and that they are devloping a uranium core for a nuclear warhead.

None of this is really unexpected, since the west has long suspected Iran of secretly attempting to develop nuclear weapons, but the signs of an escalating conflict grow with each passing day.  Israel has already suggested that "the time has come" to deal with Iran, and has not ruled out the use of its own military forces in the process.  Yesterday, the United Kingdom cut ties with all Iranian banks, and Canada banned the export to Iran of all goods used in the petrochemical, oil and gas industries.  The Russians claim that the IAEA is biased, and had the "set goal to deliver a guilty verdict."  Iran itself claims that the report is politically motivated, and based on false evidence cooked up by American intelligence services.  Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the head of the IAEA a "pawn of the U.S."

The whole affair, so far, bears a remarkable resemblance to the events that led up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, which leads many of us who remember clearly those events to wonder if some kind of war with Iran is inevitable.  We shall see.  In the meantime, we shall keep a close watch.