"It's not as good a Security Council as we've had in previous rounds..."

"The good old easy days ..."

In the CABLE/ here

" .... The idea is to the keep the actual penalties in the U.N. resolution, currently being negotiated in New York, vague enough to bring the Russians on board while allowing the United States and the European Union to move forward with tougher measures on their own, according to two European diplomats familiar with the discussions......

The Russian side is working relatively well with the other Security Council members, these diplomats report, although resisting the harder-line items that are likely not to be included in the new resolution. China's current position is that now is not the time for new sanctions, but the other actors are hoping that the Chinese will eventually be forced to choose between siding with the international community or siding with Iran, and will feel enough pressure to at least abstain from the final vote.

There is still a lot of concern about other U.N. Security Council members, especially Turkey and Brazil, who are poised to resist a new sanctions resolution. "It's not as good a Security Council as we've had in previous rounds," one diplomat lamented....

There are also increased signs of close coordination between the U.S. and Israel on the Iran issue. In addition to the trip this week by Deputy Secretary of State Jim Steinberg and Under Secretary of Defense Michèle Flournoy, there have been a flurry of high-level visits back and forth in recent weeks. CIA Director Leon Panetta .... National Security Advisor Jim Jones ... Chairman of Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen and Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew .... Vice President Joe Biden is expected there March 4. From the Israeli side, Defense Minister Ehud Barak will be in Washington this week and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be in town March 21, and then back again for the nuclear security conference in April.

"You are seeing a very steady, and even stepped-up level, of strategic coordination between the U.S. and Israel at the moment," said one Washington-based Middle East hand. "And given the meaningful shift in tone in public and policy in private that we are seeing from the administration, not to mention the IAEA seeing signs of warhead work in Iran, those talks are sure to be very, very sensitive."