Britain, France, and Germany are done being polite about Iran's nuclear program. And it only took 5,000 working centrifuges and enough material for a nuclear bomb before they got to that conclusion. But maybe Obama's planned high level meetings can fix things. I mean - Bush tried 28 times and failed. But maybe the 29th time will be the charm. Sure Iran says they'll keep refusing to meet while they build game-changing weapons...

The very appearance of this new missile is a living testimony to the failure of the world community to curb the trade in missile technology, not to speak of curbing the malicious ambitions of Iran's mullahs. The Iranians dubbed the missile launched on Nov. 12 "Sajeel," but its general layout was indistinguishable from the description of the "Ashura," which was flight-tested about one year ago, apparently without success.

To the uninformed eye, the Sajeel/Ashura resembles the familiar Shahab-3, an evolved clone of the North Korean 1,300-kilometer No Dong single-stage, liquid propelled ballistic missile. In fact, some commentators pooh-pooh'd the new missile as another manifestation of the ever-evolving Shahab-3 design. Nothing is further from the truth. Perhaps the most striking feature of the new missile is its very newness. This is not another permutation of the No Dong formula - this is a brand-new missile... While still lagging behind the latest in the United States or Russia, the Sajeel/Ashura displays several mature features and signifies Iran's graduation into world-level missilery... The appearance of the Sajeel/Ashura signals... It highlights Iran's single-minded pursuit of ballistic missile capability in every conceivable technology.

... but hope! Actually its more likely that Obama's approach will leave him with no alternative but to appease Iran. But hope! For instance, the Presidents of 6 major US universities will be touring Iran soon. Because the Iranians - they seem interested in talking.

References:
* EU 3 accuse Iran of "utter disrespect" [Middle East Forum]
* Iran centrifuge claim worries J'lem [JPost]
* Inevitable: Iran Has Enough Material For A Nuke (Plus: US Foreign Policy Sophisticates Urge Obama To Abandon Sanctions Because "Threats" Don't Work) [MR]
* Bush Administration Contacts with Iran [Middle East Forum]
* Iran Rejects Talks With Obama, Foreign Policy Sophisticates Confused [MR]
* Iran's Game-changer [Defense News]
* Wishful Thinking and Iran [Middle East Forum]
* U.S. Academics Tour Iran [CBS News]

Previously:
* Vast Financial War On Terrorism Going Kind Of OK, Actually
* Al Qaeda Misses Memo About How Sunnis And Shiites Don't Cooperate, Thanks Iran For Critical Financing And Infrastructure
* US Warns Israel Against Pre-Obama Attacks On Iran Or Hamas