http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10280356.stm
First thing to note, these new sanctions will not stop the Iranian pursuit of nuclear weapons. The only reason why Ahmandinejad's satirical comments are so embarrassing is because they are true. There is no reason to believe that the fourth round of sanctions will have any more effect than the third round (or the second or first for that matter). Even before the sanctions had passed the UN Security Council, the Iranian government had already devised ways to evade any negative consequences of the sanctions. Further, the sanctions do not even target any vital assets of Iran. They are ineffective and irrelevant.
Because every round of sanctions has been completely ineffective, a major problem is arising: the disintegration of international opposition to Iran. Brazil and Turkey's decision to vote against the most recent round of sanctions was the strongest opposition that any of the four rounds of sanctions have experienced. The international crusade to isolate Iran is failing. As international support dissipates, the effectiveness of diplomacy and sanctions will diminish. The West's diplomatic failures, in other words, are convincing other members of the international community to not take the West's opposition to Iran seriously. If these ineffective sanctions continue to be passed (and to fail), the international support for any future action against Iran will disintegrate.
What we are witnessing is a dichotomy: in the name of diplomacy, the leaders of the West are passing ineffective sanctions on Iran. The ineffectiveness of these sanctions is leading to the loss of the West's international support. In other words, ineffectual diplomatic policies are destroying the viability of a diplomatic solution.
