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Mapping Iran's Nuclear Program And Oil Facilities

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Iran Nuclear "Deal" Post-Mortem, with data courtesy of "The Geopolitics of Iran: Holding the Center of a Mountain Fortress"

Mapping Iran's Nuclear Program And Iran's Oil Facilities

After double overtime negotiations in Lausanne, Iran and six world powers have announced a framework deal that largely covers the key points of a nuclear agreement but that leaves the technical details to be worked out over the next three months.

The joint statement outlined several key points:

  • Natanz will be the only Iranian facility allowed to carry out uranium enrichment, and the deeply buried Fordow enrichment site will be converted into a nuclear research facility.
  • Iran will be allowed to continue enrichment in limited amounts, and all spent fuel will be shipped out of the country.
  • The Arak heavy water reactor, which is still under construction, will be redesigned so that no plutonium is produced at the site.
  • All three of the sites will be heavily supervised.

Notably, there was no mention of the Parchin military facility, where Iran has been suspected of engaging in nuclear weapons research. Iran has publicly insisted that it would not subject its military facilities to inspection, though it is unclear what has been conceded to assuage concerns about the activity at this facility.

The statement also did not specify how long the terms of the final accord would last —  another question left for the final agreement.

Though there are several critical ambiguities in the joint statement, on the whole this statement is highly favorable to Iran. The careful wording was designed to enable Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to sell this deal at home, and could help stave off U.S. congressional dissent in the months leading up to the June 30 deadline — though the deal does not depend on congressional approval for implementation.

* * * * *

To understand Iran, you must begin by understanding how large it is. Iran is the 17th largest country in world. It measures 1,684,000 square kilometers. That means that its territory is larger than the combined territories of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal — Western Europe. Iran is the 16th most populous country in the world, with about 70 million people. Its population is larger than the populations of either France or the United Kingdom.

Under the current circumstances, it might be useful to benchmark Iran against Iraq or Afghanistan. Iraq is 433,000 square kilometers, with about 25 million people, so Iran is roughly four times as large and three times as populous. Afghanistan is about 652,000 square kilometers, with a population of about 30 million. One way to look at it is that Iran is 68 percent larger than Iraq and Afghanistan combined, with 40 percent more population.

More important are its topographical barriers. Iran is defined, above all, by its mountains, which form its frontiers, enfold its cities and describe its historical heartland. To understand Iran, you must understand not only how large it is but also how mountainous it is.

To understand Iran, you must begin by understanding how large it is. Iran is the 17th largest country in world. It measures 1,684,000 square kilometers. That means that its territory is larger than the combined territories of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Portugal — Western Europe. Iran is the 16th most populous country in the world, with about 70 million people. Its population is larger than the populations of either France or the United Kingdom.

Under the current circumstances, it might be useful to benchmark Iran against Iraq or Afghanistan. Iraq is 433,000 square kilometers, with about 25 million people, so Iran is roughly four times as large and three times as populous. Afghanistan is about 652,000 square kilometers, with a population of about 30 million. One way to look at it is that Iran is 68 percent larger than Iraq and Afghanistan combined, with 40 percent more population.

More important are its topographical barriers. Iran is defined, above all, by its mountains, which form its frontiers, enfold its cities and describe its historical heartland. To understand Iran, you must understand not only how large it is but also how mountainous it is.

Iran’s most important mountains are the Zagros. They are a southern extension of the Caucasus, running about 900 miles from the northwestern border of Iran, which adjoins Turkey and Armenia, southeast toward Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz. The first 150 miles of Iran’s western border is shared with Turkey. It is intensely mountainous on both sides. South of Turkey, the mountains on the western side of the border begin to diminish until they disappear altogether on the Iraqi side. From this point onward, south of the Kurdish regions, the land on the Iraqi side is increasingly flat, part of the Tigris-Euphrates basin. The Iranian side of the border is mountainous, beginning just a few miles east of the border. Iran has a mountainous border with Turkey, but mountains face a flat plain along the Iraq border. This is the historical frontier between Persia — the name of Iran until the early 20th century — and Mesopotamia (“land between two rivers”), as southern Iraq is called.

The one region of the western border that does not adhere to this model is in the extreme south, in the swamps where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers join to form the Shatt al-Arab waterway. There the Zagros swing southeast, and the southern border between Iran and Iraq zigzags south to the Shatt al-Arab, which flows south 125 miles through flat terrain to the Persian Gulf. To the east is the Iranian province of Khuzestan, populated by ethnic Arabs, not Persians. Given the swampy nature of the ground, it can be easily defended and gives Iran a buffer against any force from the west seeking to move along the coastal plain of Iran on the Persian Gulf.

Running east along the Caspian Sea are the Elburz Mountains, which serve as a mountain bridge between the Caucasus-Zagros range and Afghan mountains that eventually culminate in the Hindu Kush. The Elburz run along the southern coast of the Caspian to the Afghan border, buffering the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. Mountains of lesser elevations then swing down along the Afghan and Pakistani borders, almost to the Arabian Sea.

Iran has about 800 miles of coastline, roughly half along the eastern shore of the Persian Gulf, the rest along the Gulf of Oman. Its most important port, Bandar Abbas, is located on the Strait of Hormuz. There are no equivalent ports along the Gulf of Oman, and the Strait of Hormuz is extremely vulnerable to interdiction. Therefore, Iran is not a major maritime or naval power. It is and always has been a land power.

The center of Iran consists of two desert plateaus that are virtually uninhabited and uninhabitable. These are the Dasht-e Kavir, which stretches from Qom in the northwest nearly to the Afghan border, and the Dasht-e Lut, which extends south to Balochistan. The Dasht-e Kavir consists of a layer of salt covering thick mud, and it is easy to break through the salt layer and drown in the mud. It is one of the most miserable places on earth.

Iran’s population is concentrated in its mountains, not in its lowlands, as with other countries. That’s because its lowlands, with the exception of the southwest and the southeast (regions populated by non-Persians), are uninhabitable. Iran is a nation of 70 million mountain dwellers. Even its biggest city, Tehran, is in the foothills of towering mountains. Its population is in a belt stretching through the Zagros and Elbroz mountains on a line running from the eastern shore of the Caspian to the Strait of Hormuz. There is a secondary concentration of people to the northeast, centered on Mashhad. The rest of the country is lightly inhabited and almost impassable because of the salt-mud flats.

If you look carefully at a map of Iran, you can see that the western part of the country — the Zagros Mountains — is actually a land bridge for southern Asia. It is the only path between the Persian Gulf in the south and the Caspian Sea in the north. Iran is the route connecting the Indian subcontinent to the Mediterranean Sea. But because of its size and geography, Iran is not a country that can be easily traversed, much less conquered.

The location of Iran’s oil fields is critical here, since oil remains its most important and most strategic export. Oil is to be found in three locations: The southwest is the major region, with lesser deposits along the Iraqi border in the north and one near Qom. The southwestern oil fields are an extension of the geological formation that created the oil fields in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. Hence, the region east of the Shatt al-Arab is of critical importance to Iran. Iran has the third largest oil reserves in the world and is the world’s fourth largest producer. Therefore, one would expect it to be one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It isn’t.

Iran has the 28th largest economy in the world but ranks only 71st in per capita gross domestic product (as expressed in purchasing power). It ranks with countries like Belarus or Panama. Part of the reason is inefficiencies in the Iranian oil industry, the result of government policies. But there is a deeper geographic problem. Iran has a huge population mostly located in rugged mountains. Mountainous regions are rarely prosperous. The cost of transportation makes the development of industry difficult. Sparsely populated mountain regions are generally poor. Heavily populated mountain regions, when they exist, are much poorer.

Iran’s geography and large population make substantial improvements in its economic life difficult. Unlike underpopulated and less geographically challenged countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Iran cannot enjoy any shift in the underlying weakness of its economy brought on by higher oil prices and more production. The absence of inhabitable plains means that any industrial plant must develop in regions where the cost of infrastructure tends to undermine the benefits. Oil keeps Iran from sinking even deeper, but it alone cannot catapult Iran out of its condition.

 

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Sat, 04/04/2015 - 11:04 | 5958561 Wahooo
Wahooo's picture

First in, first out. Sloppy seconds for the rest of you.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:02 | 5958657 Publicus
Publicus's picture

It is every man's right to possess nuclear weapons.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:27 | 5958704 RichardP
RichardP's picture

The first rule of the entire world:  you cannot keep what you cannot defend.  The concept of "rights", natural or otherwise, are subordinate to this first rule of the world.

Because this is true, "rights" generally degenerate into "abilities".  Having a right does you no good if you cannot exercise that right.  And your ability to exercise that right depends exclusively on your ability to defend your ability to exercise that right.

So - a corallary to the first rule:  you may have a "right", natural or otherwise - but your ability to exercise that right depends upon your ability to defend that ability.

In other words - you can't do what someone stronger won't allow you to do.  "Rights" are irrelevant in all but philosophy classes.  Ability to defend rules.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 18:44 | 5959493 Squid-puppets a...
Squid-puppets a-go-go's picture

yet civilization itself is founded on the consensus to use our strength in co-operation, not confrontation

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 20:25 | 5959742 goldsaver
goldsaver's picture

Hahahahahahahahaha....wait, wait, can't. Breath..... Bwahahahahahahahahaha.... Now you had to screw up a good Blanton's buzz I had going.....

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:46 | 5958764 Kirk2NCC1701
Kirk2NCC1701's picture

"It is every man's right to possess nuclear weapons."

But I thought it was only Israel's right to have the SAMPSON OPTION, having ABC weapons.

Perhaps now is the time for the international community to make sure that Israel signs whatever treaties that are required, and undergoes a thorough inspection of its own. That should prove an interesting tap-dance by Kerry.

Sun, 04/05/2015 - 06:57 | 5960405 newdoobie
newdoobie's picture

China Russia Us Uk France india Pakistan N Korea Israel S Africa

Lets not forget Nato Germany Netherlands Italy Turkey Belgium

And Belarus Ukraine Kazakhstan gave all theirs back {right!}

But but but everyone signed a treaty!

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 11:10 | 5958565 Ignatius
Ignatius's picture

Holding out for map of Israeli nukes...

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 11:30 | 5958605 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

One does not discuss this subject in the West. Those in the East who do so are often bombed into the stone age by the West.

<It's not nice to mess with mother nature Father Empire. Not with Father Empire's fiat.>

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 11:48 | 5958631 JustObserving
JustObserving's picture

US war on terror has killed at least 1.3 million in just 3 countries as counted by Physicians for Social Responsibility:

This investigation comes to the conclusion that the war has, directly or indirectly, killed around 1 million people in Iraq, 220,000 in Afghanistan and 80,000 in Pakistan, i.e. a total of around 1.3 million. Not included in this figure are further war zones such as Yemen. The figure is approximately 10 times greater than that of which the public, experts and decision makers are aware of and propagated by the media and major NGOs. And this is only a conservative estimate. The total number of deaths in the three countries named above could also be in excess of 2 million, whereas a figure below 1 million is extremely unlikely

http://www.psr.org/assets/pdfs/body-count.pdf

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:29 | 5958722 RichardP
RichardP's picture

Damn that terror. If that terror did not exist, we would not have to wage war on it.  Then all those people killed would still be alive.

Damn that terror.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 13:30 | 5958864 loonyleft
loonyleft's picture

It's OK because Stalin killed more, and so did Ghengis Khan, and Julius Caesar, and cavemen. 

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 11:13 | 5958575 savedeposit
savedeposit's picture

third out

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 11:19 | 5958582 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Another thing to note might be all the nuclear weapons it obtained from Pakistan eh?

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 11:26 | 5958596 Chad_the_short_...
Chad_the_short_seller's picture

Are they trying to get nukes to do away with israel?

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:32 | 5958727 RichardP
RichardP's picture

No. If that were the case, they would have already purchased nukes from North Korea and gotten the job done.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:45 | 5958762 kwatinhu
kwatinhu's picture

The Avatar says it all...

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 11:33 | 5958607 JustObserving
JustObserving's picture

Iran has no nuclear weapons and Israel has at least 200 but why let truth get in the way of another Neocon war?

The Iranians may be a bit paranoid but, as the saying goes, this does not mean some folks are not out to get them. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his knee-jerk followers in Washington clearly are out to get them – and they know it.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the surreal set of negotiations in Switzerland premised not on evidence, but rather on an assumption of Iran’s putative “ambition” to become a nuclear weapons state – like Israel, which maintains a secret and sophisticated nuclear weapons arsenal estimated at about 200 weapons. The supposed threat is that Iran might build one.

Israel and the U.S. know from their intelligence services that Iran has no active nuclear weapons program, but they are not about to let truth get in the way of their concerted effort to marginalize Iran. And so they fantasize before the world about an Iranian nuclear weapons program that must be stopped at all costs – including war.

Among the most surprising aspects of this is the fact that most U.S. allies are so willing to go along with the charade and Washington’s catch-all solution – sanctions – as some U.S. and Israeli hardliners open call for a sustained bombing campaign of Iranian nuclear sites that could inflict a massive loss of human life and result in an environmental catastrophe.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/why-iran-distrusts-the-us-in-nuke-talks/544...

 

New York Times Publishes Call to Bomb Iran

3/30/2015

If two major newspapers in, say, Russia published major articles openly advocating the unprovoked bombing of a country, say, Israel, the U.S. government and news media would be aflame with denunciations about “aggression,” “criminality,” “madness,” and “behavior not fitting the Twenty-first Century.”

But when the newspapers are American – the New York Times and the Washington Post – and the target country is Iran, no one in the U.S. government and media bats an eye. These inflammatory articles – these incitements to murder and violation of international law – are considered just normal discussion in the Land of Exceptionalism.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/new-york-times-publishes-call-to-bomb-iran/...

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 11:38 | 5958614 Fun Facts
Fun Facts's picture

With netanyahoo the psychopath sitting there with 200 nukes, threatening his neighbors virtually day and attacking them every six months or so with impunity, who in the region wouldn't want nukes ?

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:47 | 5958769 dsty
dsty's picture

Funny, those psycopaths have not used them.

Do you suppose Iran with it's repeated death threats to US and Israel would use them?

You seem to be on Obama's side.

Fine mess he has gotten us into.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 18:06 | 5959417 DutchBoy2015
DutchBoy2015's picture

Hey fuckface, Iran issues death threats against USA/Israel because USA/Israel are the biggest purveyours of state sponsored terrorism on earth and have killed well over 10 milllion INNOCENT people around the globe since 1960.  

I am not Muslim but support Russia and Iran against cocksucking Nazi motherfuckers like YOU.  And I have accesss to US bases here so if you sons of bitches feel froggy, JUMP.  You will be a amazed by what a few dedicated people can do.

Now piss off you son of a crack whore Americunt bastard.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 11:56 | 5958649 fudge
fudge's picture

Iran has no nuclear weapons

I disagree, and it's likely that this is the only reason that jizrael has not launched an attack on Iran. Also note that neither of us can fully substantiate our claims, but the number of unaccounted for weapons makes my claim far more believable, there was never a full disclosure or reckoning of the Kazakhstan sites or the rumored miniatures from the labs of the USSR.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 13:24 | 5958846 mvsjcl
mvsjcl's picture

"...most U.S. allies are so willing to go along with the charade..."

 

Hardly surprising. Just look at 9/11.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 11:59 | 5958637 drendebe10
drendebe10's picture

Send the fudgepacker to Dasht-e kavir forever...

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:09 | 5958670 MEFOBILLS
MEFOBILLS's picture

Alexander the Great said it jestingly.

“But as for the other captive women, seeing that they were surpassingly stately and beautiful, he merely said jestingly that Persian women were torments to the eyes.

Beautiful Persian Women

When I think about Persia, I think about their beautiful women, and what a crime against humanity it would be to destroy them.

Persia calls themselves Iranian or “Aryan,” on purpose.  This is to delineate they are not Arabs/Semites.  Shia Islam further tends to be non-arab, but not exclusively. 

Note that Sunnis, Israelis, and Zionist Debt Spreading West now have common cause.

Speaking in biological terms, a successful parasite will make its host walk, drink, and think in ways beneficial to said parasite.  Yet, the parasite draws energy from host and hence host cannot evolve fully.  A healthy host will try and shake off its parasite; an unhealthy host will do its parasites bidding.

The parasite is debt spreading private capital, where banker has inserted himself between human relations.  A debt instrument is attached to debtor, yet the banker creator of the credit money holds the debt instrument.  This attachment of a debt instrument to a human, to then harvest their life energy is very analogous to a biological parasite.  Debt instrument is then traded in markets and called an “asset.”

Inventors of this parasitism are Jews, no question about it.  It fully came into being in Amsterdams stock exchange by 700 unlicensed Sephardic Jews.

 Yes, there are non-jew fellow travelers and sayanim front men which give further impetus to the parasite.  Kabbala and Talmud give sanction to this parasitism, thus immoral rents perversely become “good and right.”  These rents are so good and so right, that it is ok to murder the Goyim as they are merely animals to be parasitized and controlled. These sneaky money means and parasitic control methods were learned by the Sages during their long Sojourn in Babylon.

We, the unhealthy host, need to shake off our parasite.  Persia is actually our natural ally, not our enemy.

 

www.sovereignmoney.eu

Sun, 04/05/2015 - 02:25 | 5960297 Seek_Truth
Seek_Truth's picture

MEFOBILLS,

Correction on this statement: "Inventors of this parasitism are Jews, no question about it. "

No, the "jews" did not invent it, they perfected it.

The first use of the fractional reserve system was in the Temple of Shamash under Hammurabi -- the sixth king of Babylon. During the time of the Babylonian captivity of Judah, a man named Jacob Egibi became the founding father of modern banking. While Judah was in captivity, Jacob began a business of loaning out money for a rate of interest. During the Reign of King Kandalanu of Babylon (circa 648-625 B.C.) a new phenomenon appeared on the scene which Jacob Egibi played a major part, and that was the invention of private banking. There were 2 prominent families at this time, they were the Egibi family and the Iranu families. These 2 families are not a figment of imagination as their names have appeared in many cuneiform tablets discovered by Archaeologists. It is believed that the Egibi family was taken with the first captivity into Assyria and then later migrated to Babylon. At the time of the 70 year captivity, Jacob Egibi already had an ongoing private banking business in which he collected large sums of interest. Now we have secular insight as to why many of the Jews did not want to return with Nehemiah to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem.

By the time of the end of the captivity, many of the others who were in captivity with the Egibi families learned this evil business practice and began to set up shop. A good example of this are the moneychangers which the Lord Jesus Christ threw out of the temple. It is interesting to note that Christ drove the moneychangers from the temple and was crucified 4 days later.

During the time of the Persian period, loan sharking became a business where interest rates of anywhere from 30-50% were charged. As time went on, the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus, tells us that during the reigns of Caesar Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD) and Tiberius (14-32 AD) records of the Roman empire reveal deposits, withdrawals, brokers fees and loans. When the western Roman Empire fell, banking continued to thrive in Egypt, Byzantium, and the Arab nations of the Red Sea.

With the rise of international trade which commenced at the end of the medieval period, many of the banks were allowed to coin money for their transactions. At that time, there was no such thing as national money and when the banks minted coins, they were all of different value which created a dilemma for international trade. First, gold coins were struck by Emperor Frederick II in 1225 A.D. Then came the "ducats'' of Portugal, the "florins" of Florence, the "agnels" of France, and the "sequins" which became the official coins of Genoa and Venice.

Europe then progressed from the Feudal system and with this came trade between different nations which resulted in foreign moneys accumulating in the various cities in Europe.

As time passed, a wealthy, powerful minority, the “elite” of the world introduced the ancient Babylonian practice of fiat currency, money backed, not by gold or some other tangible asset, but by nothing other than power. 

Fiat money,fractional reserve banking, derivatives, etc are the “magic spell” that Babylon the Great (Revelation chapter 17 & 18) casts, as (through the City of London,  Federal Reserve, IMF, World Bank, BIS, as well as the EU), the world’s economic powers ("great men") have created power by means of wealth out of thin air.

It is Ancient Babylon that is the "inventor", as the mother of the global financial system, "Babylon the Great", the "Mother of the Harlots."

 

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:26 | 5958707 garcam123
garcam123's picture

My gut says the US will set off a false flag nuclear device in Jewrusleum to start a war against everyone else, especially Russia and will declare marshall law in the US and eliminate any kind of civilian government or civil rights.

It's over people, the phycopaths will kill us all for money and power.

America and it's military are the greatest terrorists in the history of the world.  Make Stalin and Pol Pot look like they were playing marbles.

The only chance I see for a different outcome is for the black people in the USSA to rise up in revolt against local police departments and then the rest of the country will join them and destroy this criminal ponzi system thay have installed.

I'm telling you, poor white people have no balls, Blacks on the other hand have been viciously depressed and attacked for a couple hundred years, they know that "freedom is just another word for nothin left to lose". And they have guns, one more thing, thousands are professionally trained killers, Thank you USSA.

Maybe they will deal some real justice to the Nazis.  Just shhot a few more unarmed black people mutherfucker, you're going to get yours, and I'm white.

 

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:44 | 5958742 RichardP
RichardP's picture

My gut says the US will set off a false flag nuclear device in Jewrusleum to start a war against everyone else ...

Anyone can make claims such as these.  History is full of such irrelevant statements.  If you want to be taken seriously, state a time-frame.  Otherwise, you are just blowing smoke and are suitable for being ignored.

Make Stalin and Pol Pot look like they were playing marbles.

If you think this is true, you are seriously uninformed.  But, on a different level, please make certain you understand the distinction between killings done while defending versus killings done while on the offense.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:45 | 5958760 dsty
dsty's picture

How about sept-oct 2015?

Just say'n

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:58 | 5958783 Red Raspberry
Red Raspberry's picture

Obama will have declared himself king by then and martial law.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 22:36 | 5960057 RichardP
RichardP's picture

September 28, 2015:  Fourth one of the current blood moon tetrad.  Maybe.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 16:20 | 5959203 petkovplamen
petkovplamen's picture

So USA was defending itself in VietNam, Korea, Afganstan, Iraq, Yemen, Nicargua, Cambodia, El Salvador, Panama, Syria, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc? Combine all the people killed in those "wars" and you indeed do get numbers bigger than Stalin.

Facts tells you it's YOU who is seriously uninformed or a troll. I cannot believe you can be THAT stoopid so you gotto be a troll.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 17:00 | 5959291 shouldvekilledthem
shouldvekilledthem's picture

Well said.

I bet he watched too much G.I.JOE

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 22:45 | 5960074 RichardP
RichardP's picture

Distinguish between killings done while defending versus killings done on the offense.

Read that again carefully - what I actually said - and you might spot the mistake in what you wrote.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 12:53 | 5958776 kwatinhu
kwatinhu's picture

Another moron with diarreha of the keyboard. Grow up and get a clue dumb ass.

There a reason blacks have "oppressed" for years.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 13:00 | 5958788 basho
basho's picture

thanks for this article.

The text "To understand Iran...." to "...but also how mountainous it is." is duplicated. :)

 

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 13:06 | 5958799 Fix It Again Timmy
Fix It Again Timmy's picture

With 535 Jew-Bots comprising the US Congress, I would not be too optimistic towards a sane and credible solution to Iran's nuclear program...

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 13:26 | 5958850 Dull Care
Dull Care's picture

Given the trouble the US Army had in Afghanistan and Iraq, they wouldn't win in Iran either.  The bravado is amazing.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 18:23 | 5959452 freakscene
freakscene's picture

Trouble? Please.

They wiped both official sitting governments from power with relative ease

They could do the same with this 2 bit country

Its what to do after that which presents a problem

Sun, 04/05/2015 - 00:47 | 5960206 zstard
zstard's picture

Yes, it could be that the length of time had more to do with sustaining the war rather than an inability to win it.

 

edit

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 14:21 | 5958943 earleflorida
earleflorida's picture

the ussa has isolated iran since 1979s revolution.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IAEA     has found iran never to possess nuclear weapons-- nor, were there ever any in iraq.

iran currently gets its natgas for the ne from turkmenistan thus freeing up the south-pars for natgas in the gulf export. this is perhaps the most optimal geography in the me.

pakistan ports:   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%E2%80%93Pakistan_relations#Iran.E2.80.93Pakistan_gas_pipeline

iran and kazakhistan have two[2] huge-oil pipelines connecting the two countries. kazakhistan's oil is  pumped to irans north (turkmenistan natgas also goes to china, and russia [4th largest fields). note kazakhistan and iran are also linked by rail, giving them direct access to the gulf.

tajikistan rail line connects to iran via afghanistan. iran can boast of the shortest route for all these natural-resourse-rich (azerbaijan,  turkmenistan, tajikistan, kazakhistan, etel) countries to reach int'l markets. location, location, location!

'thy`strait of hormuz!!!'

note: the ussa could stir-up the quasi-latent 'green movement'?

note2: yemen is a iranian proxy via houthis, and they are sincere about making a palestine state!

note3:  about saudi arabia[sa]. yemens sw qtr. scares the shit out of sa! close to ~42% +/- of sa youth are under 15 yrs old-- ~42%+/- of working pop. are unemployed, with a consensus total population of 2014 at ~29million. they hate the saudi's religious 'wahhabism' police state, as i've talked to many sa's that contest to their religious backwardation to suit their means as the ussa wedge issuses of abortion/race/ imigration... three-card-monty.

go iran 

ps. ther's alot moar i could offer-up on the iranian deal... but, i don't want to ruffle obi1's feathers, or break horsefaces sheathed broken'd arrow of deception?

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 14:56 | 5959045 darteaus
darteaus's picture

If you're Sunni, you ain't Shiite!

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 14:59 | 5959051 besnook
besnook's picture

i think the idf should show all its gratitude for the protection the usa has provided for israel to insure the existence of the jewish state by attacking iran on its own. they should have no trouble since they are the self proclaimed smartest people in the world with the best military for killing innocent people.

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 15:33 | 5959121 Atticus Finch
Atticus Finch's picture

'Rome creates a desert and calls it "peace." Tacitus

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 20:21 | 5959722 goldsaver
goldsaver's picture

...

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 20:23 | 5959730 goldsaver
goldsaver's picture

....

Sat, 04/04/2015 - 23:46 | 5960148 talisman
talisman's picture

Of potential major importance to Iran's economy, one should not overlook the development of Iran's Chabahar port in conjunction with India as India's alternative to the Pakistan port of Gwadar which port is key to China's "Silk Road" China-Pakistan economic corridor (which Pakistan corridor should also benefit Iran).
These corridors comprise 
trade routes from the Persian Gulf to Central Asia; thence eastward to China (avoiding the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea); as well as westward from central Asia to Russia's westerly regions, avoiding the most troubled portions of the middle east and Turkey.
Not to forget China's "Silk Road" central corridor through Tashkent and Tehran.

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