Right Wing Nut House

The radioactive Mullahs in Iran have apparently rejected the latest offer from the EU 3 of Germany, France, and Great Britain to halt their uranium conversion efforts:

Iran announced Saturday that it would reject a proposal by three European countries aimed at ending the confrontation over Iran’s nuclear program.

A Foreign Ministry statement announcing the decision came as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in as Iran’s new president.

President Ahmadinejad’s new government now faces a decision about whether to proceed with Iran’s announced plan to continue with a uranium conversion process that Tehran suspended a year ago, a step that the West has said may lead to it seeking sanctions against Iran at the United Nations Security Council.

Newly minted President Ahmadinejad appears to be having a problem focusing on reality. This from his innauguration speech:

“We want peace and justice for all and they are the integral part of our foreign policy,” he said, addressing senior Iranian officials and foreign ambassadors at the ceremony. “I stress on these two principles so that countries which use the instrument of threat against our nation know that our people will never give up its right to justice.”

“I don’t know why some countries do not want to understand that the Iranian people will never give in to pressure,” he added. “When people see such attitude, resistance grows in them and achieving a national right becomes an ideal.”

John F. Kennedy, he’s not.

It would be interesting if some enterprising reporter would ask the terrorist what his definition of “justice” is? As a member of the elite Qods or “Jerusalem Force,” a brigade of the feared Revolutionary Guards based in western Iran that specialized in assasinating “enemies of the revolution” who lived overseas, Iran’s new President may have a little different take on what “justice” really means.

Couple these statements with the bizzare press conference last week featuring this exchange between reporters and Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi about Iran starting up their uranium enrichment (UCF) processes:

Reporter: What will the scope of the (UCF) activity in Esfahan be at the beginning? Will it have full or partial capacity?

Asefi: No. I know it is of no interest to you.

What is going on?

I’ve already speculated here that given all we know about Iran’s new President, it’s possible that the Guardian Council has determined that confrontation with the west is inevitable and as a result, is becoming much more insular in its outlook. Without much coverage in the western press, the Revolutionary Guards (who are under the direct control of Guardian Council leader Ayatollah Khamenei) have been on a rampage since Ahmadinejad’s election, rounding up dissidents, cracking down on freedom of the press and assembly, and supressing any hint of protest against the regime. Some of the reformist elements have responded by becoming violent themselves. A recent outbreak of anti-government protests in the western part of Iran recently was ruthlessly put down by 100,000 troops.

Iran is going to go ahead with its uranium enrichment programs because it sees no other choice. The regime is in trouble at home and will now seek to build an atomic bomb to rally support to the government. It worked for Musharaf in Pakistan as the dictator almost bankrupted the country to build the bomb. The Mullahs may see a rekindling of nationalistic pride as the only alternative to being booted out.