Some Iranian blog coverage of the recent Independence Day festivities in Tehran. Nice pic of Khatami. I like this quote:

He added that the U.S. harbors the terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) in Iraq, but accuses Iran of sponsoring terrorism, and asked, “Now, are we the sponsors of terrorism or the U.S.?”

I gained some insight on what’s going on with Iran from an analysis by Jalal Ghazi (news.pacificnews.org) Here’s an excerpt: “Some observers believe the only solution to the Iraqi conundrum is to divide Iraq into three federated states. But because most Iraqis share the same Shiite faith as the Iranians, sooner or later Iran will extend its influence over Southern Iraq. Iran could then control a huge part of the world’s fossil fuel resources. If this should happen, the United States will have no choice but to welcome a “New Persian Empire,” as it did for nuclear-armed enemies the Soviet Union and China.

No single country has benefited as much from the war on terror as Iran. America eliminated two of Iran’s fiercest enemies, with which Iran shares long borders to the east and the west: the Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam Hussein in Iraq. And because the United States is bogged down in Iraq, Iran feels free to expand its influence, developing its nuclear technology and strengthening its economic ties with China and Europe.”