Did Iran Orchestrate the “Cartoon Controversy”?

Iran is angry that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has referred the issue of Iran’s nuclear power/weapons program to the UN Security Council. This is not an unexpected development, and Iran has had quite some time to create a strategy to deal with this contingency.

To refresh your memory, the UN Security Council is made up of 5 permanent members and 10 rotating members.

The 5 permanent members are:
- The United States
- China
- France
- The United Kingdom
- The Russian Federation

The current “rotating” members are:
- Tanzania
- Argentina
- Congo
- Denmark
- Ghana
- Greece
- Japan
- Peru
- Qatar
- Slovakia

Wait a minute. Denmark?

Yes. That Denmark - the focal point of this whole cartoon controversy.

The Presidency of the Security Council also rotates. Here is the schedule for 2006:

- February - The United States
- March - Argentina
- April - China
- May - Congo
- June - Denmark
- July - France
- August - Ghana
- September - Greece
- October - Japan
- November - Peru
- December - Qatar

Isn’t it interesting that the two nations who will preside over the Security Council in June and July are the two nations at the center of this cartoon brouhaha?

Could Iran have orchestrated the protests to undermine the credibility of the Security Council, just in time for their case to be heard?

I don’t know, but it sure is interesting to think about.

I wonder how long it’ll be before some obscure newspaper (like Jyllands-Posten in Denmark) in the Congo, Ghana or Greece publishes the "Muhammad" cartoons and the protests start there…