But relax: soon we will talk all this out and smooth it over.
More on this story. “Iran test-fires new missile, Israel within reach,” by Zahra Hosseinian for Reuters, November 12 (thanks to all who sent this in):
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran said it test-fired a new generation of surface-to-surface missile on Wednesday and that the Islamic Republic was ready to defend itself against any attacker.
Iran’s latest missile test followed persistent speculation in recent months of possible U.S. or Israeli strikes against its nuclear facilities, which the West suspects form part of a covert atomic weapons program, a charge Tehran denies.
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama, like outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush, has not ruled out military action although he has criticized the Bush administration for not pursuing more diplomacy and engagement with Tehran….
Iranian Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said the Iranian-made surface-to-surface Sejil missile had “extremely high capabilities” and was only intended for defensive purposes.
He said it had a range of close to 2,000 km (1,200 miles), almost as far as another Iranian missile, Shahab 3. That would enable it to reach Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf.
“This missile test is in the framework of Iran’s deterrent doctrine,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
“It will only land on the heads of those enemies … who want to make an aggression and invade the Islamic Republic,” said Najjar, who did not mention any country by name….
The United States is planning to install a defensive shield in central Europe against missiles it says could be fired by states such as Iran.
“We’ve consistently pointed out that Iran’s missile program is a concern and this testing is another reminder of the importance of establishing a missile defense site in Poland and the Czech Republic to defend the U.S. and Europe against a threat that is developing in Iran,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.
Moscow on Wednesday rejected U.S. proposals intended to allay its concerns about the system….
Just in case there was any doubt about Russian support for the global jihad.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who often rails against the West, told a provincial rally Iran would defeat its enemies.
“The Iranian nation defends its honor and whichever power that wants to stand against the movement of the Iranian nation, the Iranian nation will crush it under its foot and slap it on the mouth,” he said in a speech broadcast live on television….
Maybe we’ll see about that. Or maybe we will give the Thug-In-Chief all sorts of wonderful gifts to make him play more nicely with his neighbors. And then we will see how well that approach works also.