Iran Update

I. It's Hajj season again, which means Iranian pilgrims in Mecca are shouting peaceful slogans such as "Death to America," "death to Israel," and "may the hands of the infidels be chopped off." Full transcript & video at MEMRI-TV.


II. The MMs resumed nuclear "research" today, as IAEA reps helplessly looked on. Even El Baradei is described as "exasperated." Gee, this seems familiar.

Europe is "concerned."

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the latest move "marks a breach of Tehran's commitments... It cannot remain without consequence."

Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said he was "very concerned" about the developments.

He said the possibility of sanctions against Iran would "in due course be discussed by the EU," but that "that point in time has not yet arrived."

Nero fiddles while Rome burns.


III. Kevin Sites' fatuous reporting meets or exceeds expectations. A sampling:

Friday prayers have become the visual cliché for Iran, and an audible one as well.

Here two speeches are given by a spiritual leader, one religious, one political. In the mosques of centuries past, the leader would be holding a sword during his remarks. Today, he holds the muzzle of an AK-47 rifle, although it is shielded from view by the podium.

"It's purely symbolic," one of the organizers whispers to me. "It's unnecessary from a practical standpoint. There are security guards everywhere. There isn't even a bullet in the chamber."

At the end of the political speech there is the obligatory chant, "Death to America." Microphones and cameras are always poised for the moment. Today the chant is fairly lackluster. "It doesn't have much meaning anymore," one insider tells me.

Well, that's a relief! I'm sure Sites would be equally understanding if he went back to the states and found every priest, preacher, and rabbi leading choruses of "Death to Iran" whilst brandishing automatic rifles. In a purely symbolic way, of course.