DAR AL HARB - E.U.: IRAN, A TEST FOR EUROPE

Iran, a test for Europe
By Pierre Rousselin

The new sanctions against Iran, which were unanimously decided on in the UN Security Council, show that, despite the crisis besetting the European Union and the United States' entanglement in Iraq, the international system is working much better than one might have feared.

These sanctions are moderate and they are not going to settle the problem of nuclear proliferation, but they do increase the pressure on the Iranian regime, which is beginning to show signs of fatigue. The fact that it was possible to adopt them unanimously is important because it shows that the Republic of Iran is losing the propaganda battle, one which it has waged with redoubled aggression since Mahmud Ahmadinezhad's election as president in the summer of 2005.

Even if Tehran is not close to yielding by halting the enrichment of its uranium, the sanctions are having a penalizing effect upon the regime. Iran, whose oil reserves are the second largest in the world, is having to import oil and is getting ready to increase the price of it in order to reduce the subsidies which are costing it billions of dollars. The economic difficulties, aggravated by the climate created by the sanctions, explain President Ahmadinezhad's disgrace and the return of more moderate personalities to the forefront of the scene.

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