Comment of the Day: The Nuclear Bomb and the Hand Bomb

Iranian blogger, Mehrdad Sheibani, Roozonline.com:

The new Iranian news bomb once again has everyone talking about the nuclear bomb and even two days after the event, it still dominates the media. The Russian media which has traditionally been slow and inactive on such issues, this time has presented its view: The Iranian decision to resume enrichment activities is not in Russian interests. They add: “Not only does this directly position Iran vis-à-vis the US, but it will lead to more challenges with Europeans too.”

Interestingly no one seems to question this view. Nobody even seems to challenge Larijani’s recent comment on engaging the US in the talks. Now some of the earlier ideas make a little more sense. For example, Iran’s chief negotiator with the Europeans Hassan Rohani had said that the US and Europe have coordinated their policy on Iran.

Germany’s Gerhard Schroeder’s comments that Iran has no chance of wedging a rift between Europe and the US on this.

A European ambassador to Tehran who did not wish to be identified told ROOZ Online that Russian and China have signaled that they would abstain on any vote in the Security Council on Iran’s nuclear policy and its ramifications.

Javier Solanas of the EU tells the Iranians in a letter that if nuclear activities are resumed, then Europe will terminate its talks with Iran and will pursue other avenues to meet its interests.

The French Foreign Minister is even more explicit and says, after a meeting with the French cabinet, that if Iran resumes its nuclear activities a major international crisis will erupt and Iran will be in isolation. The French Foreign Minister completes the next step and says that if the policy is not terminated, then the UN Security Council is the next stop.

The international warn that the US and Israel will take advantage of Iran’s decision to resume nuclear activities to their benefit and Figaro and Liberation goes as far as saying that bombings of Iran’s installations will be the response to Iran’s decision. Figaro calls Iran a rogue state, a familiar term of the recent past.

Even Denmark, which becomes a UN Security Council member this month summons Iran’s ambassador and warns that the Danish government would vote against Iran at the Council. READ MORE

The American neocons, who had been waiting for an Iranian pass, jump up and spank the ball hard onto the Iranian side. President George Bush takes advantage of Congress’s recess and appoints his confrontational ambassador to the UN. So are all the pieces now in place for a deal between two conservative states?
Other news events do not support this. On Monday, the Iranian Ministry of Guidance sent a directive to all the media requesting that they not publish any news regarding an attack on Iran’s borders. An event that was predicted by Hassan Rohani, Iran’s chief negotiator with the Europeans on the nuclear issue, with a warning that the Islamic Republic had to be prepared for such an outcome. Ayatollah Khamenei’s words to the visiting Lebanese Hezbollah delegation throw light on how he sees the international climate. “The outcome of our elections shocked the Americans and now they are retreating”, he said. Baztab website, a spokesmedia for the right wing groups in Iran which has been keenly following the military situation between Iran and the US, quotes an American source to throw more light on their thinking. “It is clear that if Iranian officials believe that the hundreds of military aircraft around them are simply for show purposes, then they are foolish”, he has said, adding “If all options are on the table, then this includes the nuclear one.”

On Tuesday a hand bomb exploded in Tehran, sending a lot of shrapnel around. The bomb exploded in front of two British companies. Even though the explosions did not cause any damage to British Airways and British Petroleum, the event was sufficient to raise eyebrows. The British ambassador to Tehran, who had publicly expressed surprise at Iran’s decision to resume nuclear activities, said the cause of the bomb explosion was not clear to him. Tomorrow, a new Iranian group calling itself “Hadian Aftab” plans to hold a demonstration in front of the British embassy to protest the burning of the Iranian flag in the Kingdom which is reported to have taken place a few days ago. That event caused the visiting Iranian soccer team to cut its trip and return to Iran, and efforts were made in Tehran to keep things calm, until the nuclear decision was announced.

And as another day turns, a new Iranian president takes office, the old one leaves it smiling, and the imprisoned journalist Akbar Ganji’s family decide to stage a sit in to protest the incarceration of their loved one who is still in hospital and reportedly on a hunger strike.

Mehrdad Sheibani is a seasoned journalist and commentator living in exile.

An interesting compilation of statements by world leaders on Iran's threat the restart parts of its nuclear program.