So Iran's defiance is final

Iran is not the first country to defy the United Nations. Nor will it be the last.

But each time the UN is defied, it provides the institution the opportunity to rise to the crisis and come out of it stronger or weaker.

As usual, the result will be momentous not just for the UN but for what kind of civilisation we want to build for the future.

If regimes bent on doing wrong will not be stopped by diplomacy, it will be interesting to see whether the UN will simply re-write the rules for the future of civilisation or will find sufficiently robust ways to stop such regimes. Sphere: Related Content