Hello! - Has anyone thought of this?

So the UN has placed another set of sanctions on Iran. Sighs of relief all round as those resisting sanctions came on board.

Yes, perhaps there are legitimate concerns in Iran acquiring a nuclear capability, but rather than follow the sanction route, might not talking to the Iranians been a better idea? - let alone considering the consequences which might follow from the imposition of those sanctions.

Bloomberg Businessweek reports on the first "shot" the Iranians might well fire in "Iran to Inspect Gulf Ships If Sanctions Used on Cargo":

"Iran will inspect ships in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for any action against its own shipping stemming from the latest United Nations nuclear sanctions.

“If only one Iranian ship gets inspected, we will take the necessary measures,” Hossein Ebrahimi, a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, was cited as saying today by the state-run Mehr news agency. “We will inspect several of their ships in return for one ship they would inspect.”

The UN Security Council on June 9 approved a fourth round of sanctions against Iran in an effort to curb its nuclear development. The measures include the authority to seize cargo suspected of being used for Iranian nuclear or missile programs, restrictions on financial transactions and a tighter arms embargo. Iran said yesterday that it will consider downgrading ties with the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency.

“The Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz will be our maneuvering front,” Ebrahimi said. “Anybody who wants to harm our interests, we will severely harm theirs in retaliation.”

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Mahler's Prodigal Son

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