Everyone waited and the elections turned into a bloodbath. To be fair, the EU leaders' condemnation was better than President Obama's, at least rhetorically. When Britain — whose non-diplomatic personnel at its Tehran embassy were arrested on trumped-up charges — asked the other member states to withdraw their ambassadors, European governments displayed their proverbial divisiveness.

Then there was a nuclear deal that everyone thought was a win-win situation — and therefore nobody thought of slapping sanctions on the Iranian regime when such a bright new beginning seemed to be on the cards. No sanctions. 

Autumn morphed into winter, Iran ran circles around its Western interlocutors and eventually turned the deal down. There was an end-of-the-year deadline for Iran's answer that came and went.

Now there is more talking for Plan C — unilateral sanctions — in case Plan B fails. But Plan C will be discussed only after Plan B fails, meaning more delays. And even if there is a UN resolution, it will be so amorphous, toothless and anodyne, to get China and Russia on board, that Plan C won't happen. 

There is abundant evidence of Iranian mischief, a policy of stalling talks. Russian and Chinese interests remain unchanged — so they are unlikely to endorse sweeping sanctions. 

It therefore comes down to the following: do the US and the EU wish to stop Iran's nuclear quest? If so, are they prepared to pay the political price to make, at least, an honest and worthy effort? Are they willing to face up to the reality that there is simply no international backing for the kind of policies needed to stop Iran now and to avoid conflict in the region later? If the answer to these questions is yes, there is no need to wait. Otherwise, there will be more stalling, more talking and more procrastinating.