As Iran pushes forward with its uranium enrichment program, which most outside nations fear will lead to nuclear weapon capacity for the country, there's a lot of talk and bluster. The UN flutters its hands and the EU has just put forward a set of concessions to tempt Iran into behaving, but no compromises have been reached yet.
Iran says it has the right to nuclear power, which would be fine if anyone believed that was all. However, Iran's longstanding declaration of intent--that is, their desire to wipe Israel off the face of the earth--means that the international community doesn't really trust that they'll stick to peaceful technology once they've got weapons grade uranium.
The problem is that no one has a strong position of authority. Iran technically is at the mercy of international decision, but no one--and that includes the US--has the clout to force Iran to actually stop its nuclear research. The fear is that pushing too hard will give Iran an excuse to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Once that happens, the country is free to go about weapon-making, and we'll get to watch the meltdown of all the careful diplomacy that evolved out of the cold war. Talk about global warming...
