Iran: What Are the Mullahs Thinking?

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May 26, 2007: There is a growing consensus in the world that Iran getting nuclear weapons is not a good thing. This feeling is led by Iran's Arab neighbors, who have always been nervous about Iran. Now that Iran is concentrating more on developing nuclear weapons, and not trying to hide it, the Arabs see themselves as the first victims of a nuclear armed Iran, who would use nukes to bully them. Russians have noted that Iran is less interested in completing its first nuclear power plant, mainly by not paying the Russians on time. Russian technicians are supervising the plant construction, which Iran has long put forward as its only interest in nuclear science. When the Russians don't get paid, they don't work, and nothing gets done with this nuclear power plant.

May 25, 2007: Four Iranian-Americans have been arrested, or prevented from leaving the country, recently. Apparently Iranian security officials believe these visitors are actually part of a U.S. plot to overthrow the Iranian government via a non-violent revolution. This is a real threat for Irans rulers, who have noted how this approach has worked again and again against dictatorships since 1989. As if on cue, two recent government decisions have caused considerable popular unrest. The price of gasoline was increased 25 percent, to about $1.50 a gallon, and banks have been ordered to cut their interest rates, despite the raging inflation. This caused the stock market to crash, and spread rumors that the economy was in big trouble. The economy is in big trouble, but the interest rate cut mainly favors politicians and their friends, who have borrowed billions in the last few years, and are using the high inflation, and government regulated low interest rates on those loans, to make a big killing (paying back the loans with cheaper, "inflated", money).

May 24, 2007: The US is holding major naval exercises in the Persian Gulf, apparently for the benefit of the rulers of Iran. Meanwhile, Iran is demanding the release of an Iranian-American nuclear engineer jailed in the United States, and awaiting trial for exporting nuclear engineering secrets to Iran.

May 23, 2007: Iran is getting ten Russian 96K6 mobile anti-aircraft systems from Syria. This avoids the growing international embargo efforts against Iran. Syria and Russia deny the deal, but then they would. This also explains where poverty stricken Syria got the $730 million to buy fifty 96K6 systems.

May 22, 2007: The UN accuses Iran of illegally expelling 70,000 Afghan refugees in the past month. Iran doesn't care. It wants to drive a million Afghan refugees back into Afghanistan. Iran believes the refugees harbor criminals, and criminal activity (especially drug dealing). Iran has a big problem with drug addiction, promoted by cheap opium and heroin from Afghanistan.

May 21, 2007: Responding to negative media reports about religious police beating young women for wearing "un-Islamic" clothing (that shows hair, ankles or hips), the police have now made a big deal of arresting minor criminals and parading them in public places. Meanwhile, the girls are still being harassed.