THE European Union's embargo on Iran's oil exports on Monday is yet another Western move to undermine the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme, which the country believes is for energy purposes. While the impact of the latest move, touted as gravest, on Iran, which has been facing different forms of sanctions since over two decades, remains to be seen, what is perplexing is the selective Western obsession with the Iranian Republic, especially when there are states thriving on nuclear threats.

Even if one were to agree that Iran's nuke programme is more than what it wants everybody to believe, the approach to deter it is far from satisfactory. In fact, some covert and hideous activities have been vitiating the atmosphere of late. The killing of a senior nuclear scientist, working in the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, in a car bomb attack in Tehran on Jan 11 has worsened things. And this is not the first instance of an Iranian nuke scientist getting eliminated in mysterious circumstances. The world is yet to forget the Stuxnet virus, a couple of years' back, which was targeted to cripple Iranian nuke facilities.

The entry of a US aircraft carrier accompanied by British and French naval frigates into the Strait of Hormuz may not help matters as any unrest there would aggravate the economic woes due to the oil flow block. The EU embargo, too, may prove a double-edged sword. It may not only affect Iran but would also impinge on states dependent on Iranian oil. Some European countries, already reeling under economic woes and other Asian nations will have difficulties in making alternative arrangements.

Hence, in the interest of world peace and economic order, the solution to Iran should be a conciliatory dialogue but not confrontation and covert ploys. Let's hope the International Atomic Energy Agency team's visit to Iran next week would result in the resolution of the issue amicably.