“Our message today to the Iranian people is that you do not have to pursue the path of confrontation,” he said during a press conference with Mr. Bush.

“Today, Britain will urge Europe and — Europe will agree — to take further sanctions against Iran,” Mr. Brown said.

Specifically, he said, the sanctions would be designed to freeze the assets of Iran’s biggest bank, Bank Melli.

“We will take action today that will freeze the overseas assets of the biggest bank in Iran, the Melli bank, and secondly, action will start today for a new phase of sanctions on oil and gas,” he said, without elaborating.

For his part, President Bush refused to rule out any action in Iran, saying “all options” were on the table — a formula he has used that has been interpreted as not precluding military strikes.

Mr. Brown said that Britain would “do everything possible to maintain the dialogue” with Iran over its nuclear program. “But we are also clear that if Iran continues to ignore United Nations resolutions and continues to ignore our offers of partnership, we have no choice but to intensify sanctions.”

YAWN. Another sign that Britain and the United States are “PUNTING” this issue to the next President.

And, in a shocker:

A Q Khan may have sold small bomb design

The West has been weak to crack down on nuclear proliferation and what a surprise that Iran may have received advanced uranium enrichment technology and blueprints for an advanced nuclear weapon from the A Q Khan network.

“These would have been ideal for two of Khan’s other major customers, Iran and North Korea,” wrote Albright, now president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security. “They both faced struggles in building a nuclear warhead small enough to fit atop their ballistic missiles, and these designs were for a warhead that would fit.”

NOT

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