IRAN

Iran and the United States continued their not-so-discreet skirmishes. Iran and Syria seem to have increased their cooperation to counter an intensified American-Israeli cooperation. The fighting arenas: Lebanon, and the Palestinian occupied territories. The subjects: nuclear Iran, Hezbollah, and Israel's repression of its countrymen in Palestine. Note: Iraq, for now, is only a minor arena of conflict.

The United States may have bought itself an Iranian promise, precarious at best, to not make life more difficult for the United States in Iraq. The United States had sent messengers to Tehran to reach some understanding on Iraq. It's unclear whether Iran would continue to heed the implicit understanding: Stay out of America's way in Iraq, and the Bush administration would abate its campaign for regime change in Iran. Iran couldn't trust the United States, and vice versa. Iran recalls that it assisted the United States in Afghanistan but saw the Bush Administration later blast its silly dogs of propaganda and psychological warfare against it. (The Pentagon's psychological methods of warfare fray the nerves not of foreign troops--who disband fast--but of Americans. Thank you.)

That the United States is kissing Iran's ass--to avoid trouble in Iraq--was obvious when, in early October, the United States dispatched Ayatollah Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim to Tehran. (The United States had earlier dispatched King Abdallah of Jordan.) The leader of the Higher Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (HCIRI) and member in the U.S.-sponsored Iraqi Governing Council, told the press that he sought to mediate between the United States and Iran. The American carrot: Iranian partnership in Iraq.)

Confidence-building measures are now in evidence between the Islamic Republic and the United States. Iraqi soldiers, re-trained and supervised by the United States, are now working with Iranian soldiers in joint patrols to monitor the border area between the unwilling Arab protectorate and the soon-to-have-a-nuclear bomb Islamic foe. In fact, the Bush administration has softened its campaign against Iran's nuclear program. This stop-gap softening is meant to assure Iran's neutrality in Iraq, until the President is re-elected. By then, Iran better have its Bomb, since, likely, Iran and the United States will go at it in Iraq, especially if the Sunni resistance is weakened.