Iran Celebrate

Iranian Shia celebrated the birthday of Imam Mahdi on Tuesday. The Imam 'is alive but has remained invisible since the late ninth century, and ... he will reappear only when corruption and injustice reach their zenith.' So I guess it's "good news" for Iranian Shia considering that corruption and injustice are thriving in Iran. 'This year, in keeping with the government effort to promote and enforce religious values under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the celebration is receiving plenty of attention from the state, even to the point of being extended an extra day.'

To enforce "religious values"! They certainly have been active in that department with their spies scouring the streets for inappropriately dressed women and un-Islamic behaviour.

'And there was the booth set up to warn people about “Satan worshipers.” There was a Jewish star at the entrance, posted atop a replica of what was supposed to be the Washington Monument (which also was described as a satanic symbol because it is shaped as an obelisk).'

Nice.

This is all very unnerving considering the fact that the tough guy rhetoric has been spewing from George and Mahmoud alike:

Mr Bush said: "Iran's pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.

"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere, and the United States is rallying friends and allies to isolate Iran's regime to impose economic sanctions. We will confront this danger before it is too late,"

and...

"The political power of the occupiers is collapsing rapidly," Mr Ahmadinejad said.

"Soon, we will see a huge power vacuum in the region ... we are prepared to fill the gap."

I've been reluctant to believe Bush when he's pronounced with apparent certainty that Iran is seeking the bomb, after all we've been given no evidence and his credibility in this department has been shattered. But it strikes me as fairly clear that Iran are playing funny buggers in Iraq as Bush has said previously. The statement above suggests an eagerness on the part of Ahmadinejad for U.S failure which would facilitate Iranian dominance in the region. It's a pickle of enormous concern.

If the U.S fail in installing a free democracy in Iraq and Iran begins to "fill the gap" then we have a definite problem. Couple that with the prospect of a nuclear armed Iran (remember that Iran is ultimately run by religious zealots) and the problem becomes a disaster.

It's just another reason why success in Iraq is so important.