The Iranians already have the missiles to reach Israel, Saudi Arabia and numerous military installations of “the Great Satan,” as they refer to the United States. If the Iranians arm these missiles with nuclear weapons, the world will become a much more terrifying place.

Thus far, the Bush Administration has done precisely what opponents of the war in Iraq have urged the United States to do in complex foreign policy situations. We have been consulting with our allies in Europe, particularly Britain, France and Germany. And we are working through the United Nations.

These diplomatic efforts are now coming to a critical decision point. At its September 18 meeting, the thirty-five nation board of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) demanded that Iran come to the November meeting and present a full accounting of its nuclear program. If the IAEA is not satisfied, then it can send the matter to the U.N. Security Council for sanctions against Iran.

It is extremely unlikely that the Iranians will be candid with the IAEA. Iran has already broken a commitment which it made last October to Britain, France and Germany that it would suspend all uranium enrichment related to bomb making activity while inspections continued. The hope was that Iran would agree to a permanent ban with the promise of trade in other less dangerous technologies.

The Europeans have been deceived; and they know it. Iran has been using the hiatus to advance its military program by converting uranium into gas and developing the necessary centrifuge machines. At the same time, the rhetoric from Tehran has grown more belligerent in recent days.

The proof of Iranian wrong doing is clear. As a scant fig leaf, Iran claims that all its work is aimed at constructing peaceful nuclear power plants, which from a technological standpoint is a blatant lie.

If anyone has any doubts about the venality of the Iranian regime and its cruelty toward its own people, I would recommend that you peruse “Reading Lolita In Tehran.” In the name of religious zeal, the Ayatollahs have created a regime so arbitrary and harsh that it rivals Stalin and other Communist dictatorships. The systematic eradication of freedom and the imposition of fear knows no bounds.

At the same time, the Iranians have persistently thwarted American efforts to bring democracy to Iraq and to fight terrorism. Osama Bin Laden’s lieutenants have freely moved in and out of Iran. That country’s long border with Iraq has become a favorite crossing point for terrorists and insurgents committed to creating chaos in Iraq. Fomenting trouble between Israel and Syria has also been high on Iran’s agenda. Their surrogate Hezbollah terrorists in Southern Lebanon are constantly hitting targets in Israel.

Saddam Hussein was a great source of pain in the Middle East. The Iranian government is a cancer.

The world doesn’t have much time left for diplomacy on the nuclear issue. As we keep talking, the Iranians keep working. In a matter of months, nuclear bombs will be constructed and buried deep in the earth in underground bunkers.

The Israelis, fearful of this result, and with good reason, have threatened to take unilateral action as they did in the case of Iraq’s nuclear bomb development. Whether they would or not may depend on the position Washington would take of such an Israeli strike. If the United States encouraged it, publicly or privately, the Israelis might act.

But if they don’t, then the question becomes what will the United States do, alone or in collaboration with the European trio? A strong case can be made for an American preemptive strike to knock out Iran’s nuclear capability. But we’re bogged down in Iraq and in the midst of a presidential election.

Time’s moving fast on this issue. Today’s options won’t be here tomorrow. We can’t permit the Iranians to have these weapons of mass destruction.