Time should be up for Iran

Iran's government has now provided additional -- and conclusive -- proof that mere diplomatic overtures will not deter its quest for nuclear weapons. It is time for an ultimatum to Tehran: Give up nukes or face severe economic sanctions.

On Friday, U.S. officials revealed the existence of a previously undisclosed Iranian underground factory making nuclear material that could be used for bombs. On Sunday, Iranian officials said their military had conducted a test of short-range missiles earlier that day.

Also on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on CBS' "Face the Nation," said much tougher economic penalties beyond the current "leaky sanctions" must be imposed if Iran can't establish that its nuclear intentions are solely for electricity generation. She added: "We don't believe that they can present convincing evidence, that it's only for peaceful purposes, but we are going to put them to the test."

But the Iranian regime, through its actions, has repeatedly flunked such tests. And the consistently bellicose rhetoric of its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, underscores its menacing intent.

That doesn't mean a military strike against Iran is in order.

As U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union": "The reality is, there is no military option that does anything more than buy time."

Another reality: China and Russia have shown no interest in blunting Iran's nuclear-weapons ambitions. That places the burden of leadership in countering this growing threat on the United States, Britain, France and Germany.

The existence of the secret underground facility has been known to the American, British and French governments "for several years," according to a White House official.

The topic is bound to come up in looming talks that officials from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China will have with representatives of Iran.

Unfortunately, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy pointed out last week at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on nuclear proliferation, years of gradually stronger sanctions against Iran for ignoring that body's to stop enriching uranium have only led to "more enriched uranium, more centrifuges" for enriching it, and a vow to "wipe a U.N. member [Israel] off the map."

That history shows that more talk will only lead to more talk while Iran forges ahead.

With or without the help of Russia and China, however, the U.S. and European nations, must meet Iranian defiance head on with severe economic sanctions.

The time for talking should be past.