"I'm Gonna REPORT you!"

The WaPo reports Iran will be reported to the UN Security Council as a result of negotiations between the five permanent members of the Security Council, plus Germany, that just concluded in London.

The agreement to report, rather than "refer," is less than Washington wanted and gives Iran another chance to negotiate a way out of the crisis. Had the matter been "referred," it would have become the immediate domain of the Security Council.

Winning the support of Russia and China to report the matter to the Security Council does not guarantee what action the council might take. It also does not guarantee that Russia and China would vote to support sanctions or other action proposed at the council.

Iran now has six weeks to meet the requirements of the IAEA.

Iran blustered in response:

"We consider any referral or report of Iran to the Security Council as the end of diplomacy," Iranian state television quoted Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and its chief nuclear negotiator, as saying on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

"This statement does not discuss referral but I believe that the Europeans should be more careful," the semi-official ISNA students news agency quoted him as saying. "We have asked for talks with the Europeans which shows that Iran wants to try all amicable ways to achieve peaceful nuclear technology."

So, we’ll do a few more turns around the diplomatic dance floor while the Iranians continue to dig deeper and disperse production to more and more locations, making the ultimate resolution of this problem much more difficult. In any event, Iran won’t be “reported” to the Security Council until early March, rather than immediately. That’s great, guys. Give them more time to offer a few more unconvincing gestures, or outright lies, to the “international community.” Lord knows we can trust them to do the right thing since their past-performance has been so outstanding and cooperative. (/sarcasm)

It’s highly doubtful the Security Council will do anything meaningful once the IAEA delivers its report, considering its 12-year record of dithering on Iraq. Passing weasel-worded resolutions wouldn’t deter your average nine-year old, let alone a certifiable madman Hell-bent on bringing on the Apocalypse.

Tick-tick, tick-tick, tick-tick…