Iran: If I Only Had Courage

If I Only Had Courage

August 2, 2006: In another indication of a change of attitude, the government says it will stand by Hizbollah in the fight with Israel. It appears that the government is no longer fearful of an attack from Israel or the United States, in response to Iran's support for Hizbollah.

The UN has ordered Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program by August 31st, or face sanctions. Iran told the UN to forget about any change in the nuclear weapons program which, officially, doesn't exist.

August 1, 2006: In an interesting change, one of the senior clerics of the Guardian Council (which actually runs Iran), called for other Moslem nations of arm Hizbollah.

July 30, 2006: Public opinion is not pro-Israel, but it isn't pro-Hizbollah either. Most Iranians resent the billions of dollars that has been sent to Hizbollah, and see the current war there as pointless. Any active Iranian involvement would be even more unpopular. This apparently accounts for the government backing away from the situation. In fact, the government openly announced that none of its troops were fighting in Lebanon. There have always been some Iranian military personnel in southern Lebanon, acting as advisors to Hizbollah, but these apparently have been ordered to get out of the area.

July 29, 2006: While the government allowed a group of pro-government students to volunteer to fight, and organize a convoy of vehicles to transport the students, via Turkey, to Lebanon, the government ordered border guards not to allow the students out of the country.

July 28, 2006: The government insisted it had never given weapons to Hizbollah in Lebanon, but only economic and humanitarian assistance. But for years it has been open knowledge that Iran has supplied Hizbollah with all manner of weapons, including thousands of rockets. Some of these rockets are made only in Iran, and Israeli engineers went to the places where the rockets landed and collected the incriminating fragments. However, Iran insists that, if it had supplied Hizbollah with weapons, Israel would have been destroyed by now.