Dubai is a place with few rules, but one of the few things tightly regulated is port security, and that's why the U.S. Navy feels comfortable using Dubai more than any other port in the world. |
Had the matter been delayed for a whole month it would have been portrayed by Iran as a victory. |
He is a very ambitious man, he thinks he has a role to play in the future of the country. |
He is not an agent, but he wants to work with Iran to the extent it is compatible with Iraq's best interest. |
I don't think they would go out of their way to violate protocol. |
I think he is mistaken in his optimism, |
If Iran gets to the point where it is capable of making a nuclear weapon, and then takes the final step. We'd have to ask, What the heck do they plan to do with it? |
Iraq has performed miracles in going from destroyed ministry buildings and staff not showing up for work to creating a government. But it is still a fragile society that lacks skilled decision makers and political consensus, so it won't have a fully functioning government anytime soon. |
Iraqi businessmen had been bringing back the funds that they held abroad. Now that it doesn't look like the oil income is going to come, Iraq is going to be in a very difficult situation. There's going to be a tightening of belts that are already so tight that they're cutting off circulation. |
It would be a pretty expensive way to go. But all of that is totally irrelevant because the debate is about fuel. There is no economic argument for Iran carrying out its own enrichment. |
It's conceivable that Iran prepared ideal circumstances - which it cannot easily repeat - in order to produce a limited demonstration, and a grand propaganda victory. |
It's possible we could have a deal on the nuclear matter. |
Reform could generate substantial savings. Palestinian Authority expenses are ridiculously high for the quality of the services delivered. |
So long as Iran has an Islamic republic, it will have a nuclear-weapons program, at least clandestinely. The key issue, therefore, is: How long will the present Iranian regime last? |
The focus on smart sanctions makes sense because they work the best. Big economic sanctions would not only be difficult to get, but Iran has vast foreign reserves from its oil revenues, so they can ride out what gets thrown at them. |