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One of the major criticisms of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's foreign policy over the past few months concerned his contribution to inadvertently creating consensus among the major powers in the UN Security Council over his country's nuclear programme.

Before the recent escalation, Russia and China in particular were in total disagreement with the US on how to deal with Iran's nuclear programme. However, poor Iranian performance in dealing with the nuclear issue has encouraged Washington and Moscow to get over their differences and establish a united front against Iran's nuclear policies. US-Russian rapprochement is likely to result in a new UN Security Council resolution that could rock the Iranian regime, as US National Security Advisor James Jones put it last week in a televised interview.

Previous Iranian mistakes have resulted in a couple of resolutions (1737 and 1747) that almost suffocated Iran. These resolutions would not have been possible without co-ordinated US-Russian efforts in the UN Security Council. Ahmadinejad's policy, which many believe reflects the rising influence of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps inside Iran, seems to be encouraging even China to join efforts in the Security Council to penalise Tehran for "defying" the major powers.

Earlier this month, immediately after Iran announced that it would step up uranium enrichment to 20 per cent, the US joined with several European allies in a drive to enlist Russian an... >>>