So far, Iran has got away on each occasion. It has learned a valuable lesson in pushing the envelope: do it at the right time, and there are rewards to be had. After all, in the global arena there is no such thing as a permanent friend or a permanent enemy, only permanent interests. This mantra has been well understood and practised by the Iranian leadership. This means Iran will continue to use the importance of its abundant oil and natural-gas reserves to play high-level politics with members of the Security Council. Tehran knows the United States is currently very weak and that its lame-duck president, George W Bush, is fighting against Congress and, worst of all, growing public support for the US to pull its troops out of Iraq. It is only a matter of time before the anti-war sentiment prevails.

The US can ill afford another war like the one in Iraq, even though some top Bush-administration officials are planning for one in Iran. What's more, international support for such action has not been forthcoming. It would not be wrong to say Iran's growing intransigence is actually linked to the declining power of the US and its inability to speak with authority in a world that has become too fragmented and filled with internecine conflict.

Domestically, the Iranian president is playing to growing nationalism in his handling of the powerful West, saying that Iran will not succumb to external pressure.

From the perspective of a developing country, Iran is smart and practises its diplomacy very adroitly and carefully. Tehran knows exactly when to push and when to pull back. Its handling of the recent hostage crisis with Britain over two whole weeks showed that Iran enjoys toying with Western powers. Ahmadinejad behaved like Libyan leader Mu'ammar Gadhafi did two decades ago, showing defiance in his every move and then suddenly releasing the 15 captured British sailors and marines who allegedly encroached into Iranian waters. But the Iranian leader has shown that he knows better than Gadhafi how to exploit a situation to benefit his name and standing.

It is noticeable that Asian countries are not quarrelling with Iran or supporting the US position that it must stop its uranium-enrichment programme. Of course, the UN Security Council has made clear that its fear is that a nuclear Iran would destabilise the Middle East and be a grave concern for the international community. Since most Asian countries, including Thailand, are importers of oil and natural gas from Iran, very few of them fully comply when sanctions are imposed on Iran. This helps explain why Iran continues to have a good rapport with other Asian countries, something that has also indirectly strengthens Tehran's international standing.

Engaging Iran will require more than threats and sanctions. The Iranian people must be brought into the picture. They would support a plan that would allow their country to develop the so-called peaceful use of nuclear power. Such a plan would help Iran develop and use nuclear power properly and allay fears that its nuclear ambitions are a threat to world peace.

Stringent United Nations sanctions that were imposed last December and further tightened late last month have hurt the country's economy and affected the standard of living in Iran. An intensification of sanctions, which could happen again next month following a review, could be avoided if Iran can only be convinced that the high-stakes game its president is playing is damaging in the long run.