Iran, US do a 'war on terror' somersault

The transfer of security in Iraq from the United States military to local forces has made for some ironic entanglements, many of which benefit Iran. This week's Iraqi raid on Camp Ashraf, a base for the militant Iranian dissident outfit Mujahideen-e-Khalq - until recently "guarded" by the US - has turned friends into enemies. - Sreeram Chaulia (Jul 31, '09)

Iran, China and the New Silk Road
China's block on Iran's full membership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization last year might signal that a Beijing-Tehran axis doesn't exist, yet a strategic alliance between the pair is essential to counter Western influence in their domain. For China, Iran is all about Pipelineistan, the Asian Energy Security Grid and the New Silk Road. - Pepe Escobar (Jul 24, '09)

Iran's Tragic Joke
NEW YORK � Allow me to quote the British novelist Martin Amis, writing about Persia in The Guardian: �Iran is one of the most venerable civilizations on earth: it makes China look like an adolescent, and America look like a stripling.�
Iranians, aware of that history, are a proud people. They do not take kindly to being played around with, nor to seeing their country turned into a laughingstock. They do not like the memory of an election campaign that now seems like pure theater, the expression of the sadistic whim of some puppeteer