Iran's goodwill tour

As international pressure builds on Iran over its nuclear program, Iran is seeking friends and allies in the region, allies it might count on should the UN Security Council try to impose sanctions on Iran, or isolate Iran in some way.

The Jamestown Foundation reports that Iran has had contacts with a number of countries in November. Turkmenistan, Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, even Syria and Egypt, not traditional allies of Iran.

As the article puts it:

Whatever the new Iranian "policy of regional cooperation" might be, Iran's recent attempt to increase its contacts with regional states is a part of Iran's preemptive strategy of avoiding potential isolation. Iran understands that any sanctions against it, especially economic, will ultimately affect the neighboring states that might be reluctant to support them. Thus, Iran is trying to make as many friends as possible in order to evade potential isolation and sanctions, in case the country's nuclear program is referred to the UN Security Council.

As I mentioned here, the report that Iran may be training Chechen terrorists in Iran has troubling implications.

(One implication I did not mention is that the report may have been leaked by Western intelligence agencies in an effort to drive a wedge between Russia and Iran, and get Russia to stop covering for Iran.)

Russia has been trying to run interference for Iran by putting forth a proposal that would keep Iran's nuclear waste in Russia. Iran, naturally, has rejected this, because it needs that waste.

The most troubling implication of the sum of all the reports I've mentioned here is that Iran is nearing the end of its need for the diplomatic stalling tactics with Europe. It may be that the stalling has worked, Iran is close to completing its nuclear program, that Iran no longer needs the diplomatic niceties, but is now gathering allies for the confrontations that will come as the full scope of Iran's nuclear program is revealed.

Regime Change Iran has linked to comments from an Israeli intelligence official who thinks the diplomatic clock is running out.

The Iranian nuclear arms race has reached a point of no return, stated the head of Israeli intelligence, Gen. Ze’evi Farkash, at a meeting of the Knesset Committee for Foreign Affairs and Defense. He believes that the current diplomatic window that would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear arms is soon to close, even within a few weeks.

Europe keeps making its feeble attempts to rein in Iran with words, but surely, in private, the terror masters in Iran are laughing.

Watch what Iran does when it comes to protecting its nuclear program. Iran may be telling us more than we want to know.

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