NEW DELHI -- The United States and European Union have taken the lead in framing a robust international response to a series of provocative actions by Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The wise way to tackle a renegade Iran, however, is not through punitive action, but through sustained international pressure.
Any penal steps against a theocratic state that has already faced assorted sanctions for more than a quarter-century would only play into the hands of the Iranian mullahs and their political deputies led by Ahmadinejad. Since coming to office last August, Ahmadinejad has adopted fiery rhetoric reminiscent of Grand Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, who led the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
New sanctions could constrict already-tight world oil supplies and further drive up prices, affecting the global economy. A diplomatic or military confrontation with Iran (the second-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) would have a greater impact on world oil supplies and prices than the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Unlike in 2003, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and other OPEC producers do not have the spare capacity to make up a supply deficit.