No excuses any more

In the event that there were doubts in any one's mind with regard to the calculus of mullahs' coupled strategy in Iraq and with nuclear weapons, those doubts should have by now evaporated into thin air. Today comes the news (AP, March 16, 2006) that Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, told IRNA that "Tehran was ready to open talks with the United States over Iraq..." Incidently, Larijani is the mullahs' chief nuclear negotiator with the EU-3 and the IAEA. He issued his statement after meeting in a closed session of mullahs' parliament, the majlis. Since, the mullahs' nuclear portfolio was referred to the UNSC on March 8, 2006, more than 85 corposes of executed men- mainly sunnis- have been found in various places in Iraq. All were killed by black-clad militias, or as has been reported, by death squads. According to a report in the New York Times ("Two more bodies were found in Baghdad in sectarian strife", March 15, 2006), the suspicion is centering around the shiite-run Interior Ministry. Iraq's Interior Minister is none other than Bayan Jabr, who lived most of the last 20 years in Iran in exile, as a high-ranking member of the SCIRI, Iran's proxy group in Iraq. To be complete, it was also in the Iraq Interior Ministry, that American soldiers found a few months ago, secret detention and torture centers. Two among the many who were tortured in these chambers were members of the Iranian Opposition group.

The UNSC is deliberating this week as to what to do with Iran's nuclear ambitions. The United States has today placed Iran at the top of its threat list (2006 US National Security Strategy) and the mullahs announce that they want to discuss Iraq! What do you think?