What is the UN doing!?!

[eddie]

The UN is going to allow the Iranians to use their own experts to investigate the Parchin site for nuclear weapons development! That's like asking the Mafia to check on their members to see if they are doing anything illegal!

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't read it here-

http://www.chron.com/news/world/arti...ke-6453252.php

I have to quit reading the news, everyday you see things that are just beyond belief, but still it goes on!

[Platapus]

operating under a secret agreement with the U.N. agency that normally carries out such work

Which means that the public/media really does not have an idea what is really going on. Not that that will stop people/media from speculating of course.

[Jimbuna]

The UN, only surpassed in their credibility and usefulness by THIFA.

[Betonov]

Since Iranians are ready to talk about halting their development of nukes, they'll be milking the west for all it's worth.
And after they get nice, fat and content Ban Ki-moon will receive a package with 4 nuts, 5 bolts and 3 nintendo tetris circuits titled Dismantled nuclear program.

[Oberon]

Catch-22, Iran is becoming a major player in the region and flexing its muscles. The only block to its power is Saudi Arabia and they're not exactly known for their rationality and co-operation either.
So whose side do you pick?

[Betonov]

Personaly I'd go with Iran

[ikalugin]

I would see them exchanging nukes over ME and see oil prices rise. Supply arms to both sides too. But if I had to pic sides - i would provide conditional support to Iran.

[Jimbuna]

The Saudis have stated publicly they will acquire nuclear capability should Iran do likewise in the future.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Jimbuna

The Saudis have stated publicly they will acquire nuclear capability should Iran do likewise in the future.

Could actually be a good thing if they managed to work themselves into a form of impassé with nuclear weapons, a form of MAD. Of course, it would mean a nuclear arms race, and as ikalugin pointed out, a rise in oil prices, which is one of the many many reasons we need to get ourselves away from oil as soon as possible.
Of course, Israeli would probably Samson them both if they got nuclear weapons.

[Schroeder]

Originally Posted by Oberon

Could actually be a good thing if they managed to work themselves into a form of impassé with nuclear weapons,

The issue is you would have to fanatical kindergarten kids with nukes who aren't afraid of getting killed because they do it for their god. MAD did only work because each side feared destruction.

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

The issue is you would have to fanatical kindergarten kids with nukes who aren't afraid of getting killed because they do it for their god. MAD did only work because each side feared destruction.

On the other hand, I think people are vastly overestimating the "madness" of both Iran and Saudi Arabia. Neither side is fanatical or kindergarten-like as most Western commentators would like to think, and if you actually follow their line of negotiation and logic, you'll see that they've been pretty clever through this whole process. That's not to say one shouldn't be concerned about them, but I think a lot of the media portrayal of them is very sensationalized.

What might actually be far more scary to realize is that Iran's policy in the Middle East has by far been more rational than virtually everybody's, and certainly more rational than the US's. This isn't so much a compliment to Iran, but more a testament to the immense Western blunders (and particularly the Iraq war) that basically handed regional dominance to Iran, who have shown themselves far smarter than to let it go to waste. Don't think them so dumb as to waste it by doing something stupid with nukes. They're really not dumb. What they're doing is a combination of clever realpolitik and sensationalist bombast that's aimed mostly at repressing domestic dissent, which is Iran's real greatest threat - and their government knows that all too well.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

The issue is you would have to fanatical kindergarten kids with nukes who aren't afraid of getting killed because they do it for their god. MAD did only work because each side feared destruction.

India and Pakistan. Both hate each other with a passion, both have major religious disagreements which make the whole west/muslim thing look laughable, and both have had nukes since the 1990s.


EDIT: CCIP makes good points. Iran is certainly more geopolitically savvy in the Middle East than any western nation, and Saudi Arabia can play the west better than Jimi Hendrix could play the guitar. So who are the fools here?

[Betonov]

CCIP nails it.
But I'd still like to see a non nuclear Iran.

[Oberon]

Originally Posted by Betonov

CCIP nails it.
But I'd still like to see a non nuclear Iran.

Aye, I can't say I trust them enough, nor others around them to react well to it. It's certainly an unwanted addition to an already volatile area, but equally it's very difficult to keep the nuclear genie in its bottle, after all the basics of nuclear weaponry are available for anyone who has an interest.

[CCIP]

To be fair, I'd like to see a non-nuclear everybody, and especially a non-nuclear regime that gets by through managing instability and provoking wars in their neighbourhood (see: Yemen, for example). But I also get a little ticked at "look at that lunatic with WMDs, we have to stop him!" rhetoric, because we've all been had by it once and look where that got us with Iraq.