But never fear. Obama really really wants to talk to the mullahs. “Iran stages missile war games,” by Jay Deshmukh and Hiedeh Farmani for AFP, September 28 (thanks to all who sent this in):
TEHRAN — Iran test-fired three short-range missiles on Sunday as the Islamic republic began war games two days after the UN nuclear watchdog disclosed it was building a second uranium enrichment plant.
Hossein Salami, air force commander of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards, said that on Monday there would also be a test-firing of the long-range Shahab 3 missile which Iran says has a range of 1,300-2,000 kilometres (800-1,240 miles) and could hit arch-foe Israel.
“Tomorrow we will test the long-range Shahab-3 missile,” he told state television….
Salami called the manoeuvres an “indication” of Iran’s “strong will to defend our values and interests.”
“This exercise has a message of friendship for friendly countries. For greedy countries that seek to intimidate us, the message is that we are capable of a prompt and crushing response to their animosity,” state television website quoted him as saying.
Dismissing Israel as a potential threat, Salami said: “That regime is not in a position that we need to comment about threats from it.”
He said Iran has “increased the precision of our missiles… hopefully, these missile tests will contribute to our deterrent and defensive capabilities.”…