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Potential for Sanctions Hovers over Tehran, Pyongyang

As many throughout the world had feared, in the wake of North Korea?s nuclear detonation, the Islamic Republic of Iran has responded defiantly to the potential for sanctions to be levied against Tehran, with the president of the country, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, even going so far as to declare that ?sanctions will be met with sanctions?. While the exact meaning of this threat has not been made clear, Iran is one of the world?s most prolific oil suppliers and has the ability to cut off access ? either entry or exit ? to the Persian Gulf.

Meanwhile, the regime of Kim Jong-Il in North Korea has declared that if the United Nations Security Council decides on sanctions against Pyongyang such a move will be seen as nothing less than a declaration of war. This came a day after North Korea threatened to launch a nuclear warhead-tipped missile if the United States did not agree to bilateral talks with the Communist ally of China and Russia. There are thousands of U.S. troops based in the region in South Korea and Japan.

Despite the threat from Pyongyang, most experts agree that North Korea doesn?t yet possess the capability to arm a ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead. The U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, responded to the North Korean threat by noting that it is by such threats and attempted blackmail the Stalinists in Pyongyang attempt to conduct business in the world, and that America would not fall for North Korea?s games.