The world can now rest easy with the knowledge that Iran will pay the price for losing the global community's vote of confidence.

Well, not really.

Rules were made to be broken, some would argue, and apparently no nukes in the Middle East, or at least being direct with respect to one's intentions, is out of the question. Iran will now have to go before the United Nations Security Council, in response to a 27-3 vote at an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Saturday.

And well it should, though the overall results of the punishment are debatable. Who knows if Iran will continue its nuclear aspirations surreptitiously? But it's likely, if not in the very least probable. The fact that 27 countries would make such a move speaks volumes: Iran is cause for concern and in terms of global credibility, the U.S. might not have the fortitude to withstand a threat on its own.

But the question of which countries in the world are allowed to assemble nuclear weapons is an interesting one. If another country told the U.S. it couldn't assemble nuclear weapons, the U.S. response would not be pleasant. But thank goodness the U.S. has the good fortune of being in charge.

Several countries, including Libya and Belarus, abstained from voting, while only three countries (Cuba, Syria and Venezuela) voted not to recommend Iran go before the council.

Though Iran has maintained its nuclear energy program will not be used to build nuclear weapons, the U.S. as well countries including China, Argentina and Australia have agreed that the threat is legitimate. U.S. intelligence contends a "workable" Iranian nuclear weapon is between four and 10 years away, according to an article in the Feb. 13 issue of Newsweek.

But Israeli intelligence sources have said Iran's nuclear capabilities will be usable proportions within a year. That idea alone should make you nervous.