More Moves On iran

I’m not sure what to make of the recent developments in Iran.  First, there was this:

The United Nations nuclear watchdog demanded Friday that Iran immediately freeze operations at a once secret uranium enrichment plant, a sharp rebuke that bore added weight because it was endorsed by Russia and China.

The governing body of the watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, meeting in Vienna, also expressed “serious concern” about potential military aspects of Iran’s nuclear program.

Administration officials held up the statement as a victory for President Obama’s diplomatic efforts to coax both Russia and China to increase the pressure on Iran. They said that they had begun working on a sanctions package, which would be brought before the United Nations Security Council if Iran did not meet the year-end deadline imposed by Mr. Obama to make progress on the issue.

This seems to have provoked this:

Iran warned Sunday that it would reduce its cooperation with United Nation’s nuclear agency and in a gesture of defiance it ordered the construction of 10 new uranium enrichment plants.

Iran’s warning and its announcement for building new plants appeared to be its first reaction to the demand by the United Nations nuclear watchdog demand on Friday to immediately suspend enrichment activities at a newly disclosed site called Fordow, near the city of Qum. Iran had told the agency that it planned to complete the half-built plant, which is tunneled into the side of mountain, by 2011

This is partly empty posturing.  Iran simply does not have the capacity to build ten new enrichments plants.  They might just as easily boasted that they were all going to nail Britney Spears.  Actually, that boast would be more credible.

Still, the regime is clearly rattled and rattled regimes can be dangerous.  I don’t know if this is progress or not.  It’s something.