Iran's latest nuclear advances: 4 reasons the world should worry

The State Department says Iran is overhyping its progress to look strong in the face of punishing sanctions. But how much of a comfort is that, really? With tensions already rising over Iran's nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday unveiled two "major" nuclear breakthroughs: Tehran has built faster uranium enrichment centrifuges, and loaded Iranian-made fuel plates into a medical research reactor. U.S. State Department officials insisted that Iran had "hyped" the news to prove it wasn't intimidated by international sanctions, and that the developments were actually "not terribly impressive." But that doesn't mean there's no cause for concern. Here, four reasons to worry:

1. Iran is pridefully defiant
It's true that "the nuclear revelations didn't live up to the hype," says Elise Labott at CNN. But Ahmadinejad's bluster is still troubling, even if it says "more about the defiance of the regime in the face of escalating sanctions" than it does about Iran's actual nuclear progress. With the regime's legitimacy within its own borders tied to the pride Iranians take in the nuclear program, Tehran might never back down.

2. Diplomacy isn't working
There aren't "any diplomatic, financial, or other means for bringing an end to what President Obama accurately calls Iran's 'nuclear weapons program,'" says Thomas Joscelyn at The Weekly Standard. Obama's "outreach to the mullahs failed." Iran has "already suffered substantial costs in terms of international 'prestige' and 'influence' — economic and otherwise — and has unquestionably decided that the benefits of acquiring nuclear weapons are worth it." Military force may be our last remaining option.

SEE MORE: The West's inimical posturing on Iran

3. Iran is pushing oil prices up
Iran's nuclear boasting isn't the only sign of rising tensions. Israel is accusing Iran of planting bombs targeting its diplomats in several countries. Iran has threatened to cut off oil supplies to six European countries and block Persian Gulf exports through the Strait of Hormuz. Put it all together, and Iran's feuding with the West has pushed the price of a barrel of Brent crude to its highest point since last summer, says Eric Lam at the Financial Post, at $119.99 a barrel. Thanks, Iran, for the "further harm [to] the global economy."

4. This all helps fear-mongers push for war
If anything, Iran's focus on producing fuel rods for a medical reactor backs up its claims that it wants nuclear knowledge for peaceful purposes, says Iran's Press TV. It's sad that media outlets are portraying this news as "a provocative step toward building nuclear bombs." We saw this before with Iraq, says Glenn Greenwald at Salon. "Fear-mongering" propagandists "exaggerate or fabricate bad acts by the designated Enemy du Jour," without bothering to check the facts, and we move closer and closer to an avoidable and unnecessary war.

SEE MORE: Coordinated attacks on Israeli diplomats: Payback from Iran?

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China urges closer cooperation from Iran in nuclear standoff

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has urged Iran to cooperate more closely with the global nuclear watchdog and rejoin talks on its nuclear program that has caused a rift with the West.

Assistant Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said the purpose of his two-day visit to Tehran, which began Sunday, was to "candidly discuss" the Iran nuclear issue with Deputy Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Baqeri.

"China is willing to ... push forward the early resumption of six-nation talks with Iran, and encourage Iran to strengthen cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure the Iran nuclear issue moves forward on the proper course of dialogue," Ma said in a statement on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful and intended to meet its energy and medical needs. Western nations suspect it is planning to build nuclear weapons capability.

Major powers signaled in late January that they were willing to reopen talks on curbing Iran's nuclear program but said Tehran must show it is serious about any negotiations.

The group, known as the P5+1, includes Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

That push for diplomacy follows weeks of rising tensions between the West, which has upped sanctions on Iran, and Tehran, which had threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which almost one-fifth of oil traded worldwide flows.

Ma's call is a familiar refrain for China, which has repeatedly voiced its concerns over new sanctions on Iran, and is one of the largest users of Iranian oil, buying around 20 percent of total exports.

(Reporting by Michael Martina; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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