ISNA - Tehran Service: Islamic Parliament, 01, Nov 06

"TEHRAN, No. 01 (ISNA)-Iran's parliament national security and foreign affairs council spokesman gave news that Iran intended to launch more centrifuge cascades.

"We are preparing another centrifuge cascade and we plan to continue this until we become capable of providing our own nuclear fuel," said Kazem Jalali.

"Even if we build ten 164 centrifuge cascade of Uranium enrichment, they will be only be used for research and development," he explained.

This official also added that Iran intended to develop its research section to a specific point before it started industrial scale production.

This member of Iran's parliament national security and foreign affairs council criticized the recent resolution draft set in Security Council against Iran's nuclear activities.

Jalali commented that West's derived path which started by referring Iran to the UN Security Council had been set more off course through the issue of the recent resolution.

"We do not see ourselves obliged of carrying out this resolution, because it is illegal, illogical and issued through political approaches," said Jalali."

http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.asp...-816857&Lang=E

__________________
Classic American liberal

Iran is a very significant player.

We can't count them out. It would be foolish to do so.

I know a whole ton of Iranis', and they're smart as hell.

The Persians have been a significant force, from time immemorial.

Heck, they gave us astronomy, and sailing ships, and all kinds of other stuff.

Read your history. Read well, and try to understand.

This is a very significant deal - the Iranis are right up there with the best of us (and sometimes, even better).

This particular piece, needs to be reconsidered in terms of foreign policy, IMO.

There's a "political" piece, that maybe could be addressed in different terms. Maybe.

Take it for what it's worth. Gotta go. See ya.

Most of my history books show the US dominating the world economically and militarily for the bestter part of a century. And before that it was Europe. The last time Iran was relevant, mankind was still fighting with swords.

They are playing catch up at best. The only reason they are even relevant now is because of the use of terrorist tactics. They can injure us, but they cant destroy us. The reverse is certainly not true, and is very unlikely to be true in the future.

__________________
My Political Blog (Updated Oct 3rd) - Which Flame Warrior are you?

True. in a way, but there's also a deeper equation.

I'll repeat my sentiment - if you discount the Iranians, you'll be doing yourslef (and us) a dis-service.

The Persians are smart as hell, they're very top-notch players.

They invented chess, and astronomy, and a whole bunch of other things.

Don't be a lay-down on this one. You're dealing with a bunch of folks that are very, very, smart.

The bottom line here, is that we're up against something that's very significant, and very powerful.

This equation, goes beyond the norm. It's really something that deserves to be considered, in great detail.

Just my take, is all....

No one has been discounting them. But like many liberals, you build them up beyond what they really are; a 3rd world nation. No, they are not a world power. Not even remotely close. Even with nukes they would not be a world power.

That was my point. Save all the crap about how they built civilization, invented atsronomy, blah blah blah...if it was relevant then, it is not relevant now. Things have changed.

No, it is NOT very powerful. That is what I am trying to tell you. Their "power" comes from the fact that they have fewer restrictions than we do. They are willing to do things we are not, because we are more civilized than they are.

If we so desired, we could wipe them off the face of the Earth with conventional military, Nukes, or both. They have no way of striking back at us directly, and probably will not have that capability for a long time. The only threat they pose is a terrorist threat. That does not make them a world power.

...and decades behind us militarily, economically, and technologically...

I am always hearing about how smart these other nations are (Europe, Japan/asia...now the Middle east). If they were so (*)(*)(*)(*) smart, why are they not ahead of us?

I've heard all the excuses before, but that is really what it boils down to. We are ahead, they are not. And we have managed to stay ahead consistently for a very long time.

__________________
My Political Blog (Updated Oct 3rd) - Which Flame Warrior are you?

they may not be as powerful or rich as the USA, but they're incredibly influential in what they do and think. They have huge influence, comparable to us, in the muslim world, and even beyond.