Obama: "I'm ready to negotiate with you, Iran." Iran: "Fuck you."

[Happy Monkey]

I worded it too strongly. The "probably" should only apply to the first bit, and a "possibly" should be added to the second. I generally agree with your analysis.

But I think the theocratic side of Iran's government is stronger than in the other countries, and a True Believer can easily throw rationalism to the wind.

[Undertoad]

toss this into your analysis hats

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9010175602

Wife of Assassinated Scientist: Annihilation of Israel "Mostafa's Ultimate Goal"

The wife of Martyr Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan Behdast, who was assassinated by Mossad agents in Tehran in January, reiterated on Tuesday that her husband sought the annihilation of the Zionist regime wholeheartedly.

"Mostafa's ultimate goal was the annihilation of Israel," Fatemeh Bolouri Kashani told FNA on Tuesday.

[TheMercenary]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

They know.

At one point an offer was made to Iran: just send your uranium to Turkey, and France and Russia will exchange it for ready-made fuel rods in the same quantity, for free. In return we will end the sanctions.

Iran turned this offer down. So, it was game on at that point. So now China and Russia are playing chess. Maybe they want a different balance of power. Maybe they figure Iran is rational, and will test their first weapon in a bunker in their mountains, and not in Tel Aviv.

China wants one thing from this, to corner the worlds market on natural resources, including Iran's oil, and they want first shot at it. Their ability to consume all of the natural resources is unlimited. I would guess that Russia is more interested in the power issue since this is a close neighbor.

[piercehawkeye45]

Apparently Iran is using other proxies besides Hamas to launch rocket attacks on Israel.

Israeli jets pounded the Gaza Strip on March 12 in the latest volley of fire since violence broke out late last week. But they were not fighting Hamas, Israel's traditional bête noire in Gaza. Though radical factions have now fired more than 200 rockets into Israel, the self-described Islamic Resistance Movement has yet to claim responsibility for a single attack. It may be the first time the organization has refused to lead the charge to battle against Israel.

Hamas has a different fight on its hands. Iran, through the use of its proxies, is fomenting instability in Gaza that it is ill-equipped to handle. Indeed, Tehran is punishing Gaza's de facto rulers for leaving their long-standing alliance.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article..._gaza?page=0,0