For the fourth time, the United Nations Security Council has voted to impose sanctions against Iran to get that country to share more details about its nuclear program. Tehran's determination to shield those efforts from international scrutiny only compounds doubt about its intentions. The new sanctions will not compel Iranian compliance, but they signal increased concern about Iranian obstinacy and consolidate the international consensus that is essential to resolve this standoff.

Iran enjoys the right to possess peaceful nuclear technology — all signatories to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) do. But access to that technology depends on forswearing development of nuclear weapons — a promise that Tehran insists it has kept, although its actions suggest otherwise. Iran has had clandestine nuclear facilities, has close links between its nuclear program and the military, and has been repeatedly caught being less than truthful about its nuclear efforts. When challenged, Tehran has preferred defiance to demonstrations of its intent.

As international suspicions mounted in tandem with Iran's determination to enrich uranium — a critical step in building a bomb — Iran has been adept at fending off diplomatic adversaries. It has exploited close relations with key nations, Russia and China in particular, to deflect international efforts to open its nuclear program.