What Scares Iran’s Mullahs?

IRAN has once again defied the United Nations by proceeding with enrichment activities, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported yesterday. And yet, simultaneously, Iranian officials have been sending a very different message — one that has gone largely unremarked but merits close attention.

After a meeting with the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader’s chief foreign policy adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, declared last week that suspending uranium enrichment is not a red line for the regime — in other words, the mullahs might be ready to agree to some kind of a suspension. Another powerful insider, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, said much the same thing in a different setting, while a third high-ranking official acknowledged that the Islamic Republic is seriously considering a proposal by President Vladimir Putin of Russia to suspend enrichment at least long enough to start serious negotiations with the United Nations.

There have also been indications that the Iranians are willing to accept a compromise plan presented by Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency. That plan calls for the suspension of all major enrichment activities but allows the regime to save face by keeping a handful of centrifuges in operation.

The mullahs are keen on damage control on another front as well. After his meeting with Ayatollah Khamenei, Mr. Velayati announced that the Holocaust is a fact of history and chastised those who question its reality. Ali Larijani, Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, also declared the Holocaust a “historical matter” to be discussed by scholars (and not, he implied, by ignorant politicians). In short, there is a new willingness among the Iranian political elite to avoid the rhetoric of confrontation and to negotiate.

There are three ways to analyze this turn. Advocates of an American invasion of Iran say that last...

Advocates of an American invasion of Iran say that last month’s strengthening of the American armada in the Persian Gulf has frightened the Iranian regime. What diplomacy could not do for years, a few destroyers did in less than a month. These advocates encourage more of the same, hoping either that the mullahs will accept defeat in the face of an imminent attack, or that a Gulf of Tonkin incident will lead to a full attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

No mention of whom these imaginary invasion advocates are!

Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran
to the United Nations - New York

On behalf of all my colleagues here at the Mission of the
Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, I wish to
extend a warm welcome to all of you who are visiting us at
our web site. I hope you find this experience and the
information rewarding and useful.

As a founding member of the United Nations, Iran believes
deepy in the ideals of the organization and the purposes
and principles of its Charter. The United Nations is the
sole universal organization with the capacity to address
issues of fundamental importance to the entire human
family and move us all closer to a new global paradigm of
understanding, sympathy, dialogue, cooperation and partnership.

Menaces that today threaten the international community
are complex and varied. Yet all of them ranging from drug,
terrorism and weapons of mass destruction, to injustice, poverty and environmental degradation have one
common ingredient. They recognize no boundaries of
geography, power or affluence. They affect us all.

The recognition of our common vulnerability should lead to
the realization of the need to work collectively in order
to find common solutions for our common problems. If we
had no institutions such as the United Nations, the
exigencies of our time would have compelled us to build
one. Now it is our task to build on the achievements of
the past generation and leave a legacy of understanding
and cooperation for our children.

Iran is committed to participate actively in the endeavors
of the United Nations to face our common challenges and
realize our collective potential. You will find some
reflections of this commitment here on the various pages
of this site.

End.

Maybe the UN should place sanctions against the USA since "according to the Democrat's"
the war in Iraq is illegal.

Come on Dem's, make the UN place sanctions against our illegal War in Iraq.

/Flip

There are two things that would scare the mullahs the most. One would be what they are asking for (but don't want): for our military forces to invade and thoroughly denazify their country (which follow-up appears to be out of style these days). The other would be if their military launched on a nation that stopped every incoming missile with ABM defense systems.

On a more negative scenario, a nation that would be hit and fire back would please the mullahs very much. They want to rouse other Islamist countries into the fight. Large numbers of foreign (to Iranians) and Iranian casualties in a missile exchange would accomplish that.

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