Iran tests cruise missile during navy war games

I guess Iran's not preparing for a peaceful 2012. Pity.

More sabre rattling from the nutters, hope they put the blades away and realise it will lead to trouble if they persist with their petulent attitude.

I guess Iran's not preparing for a peaceful 2012. Pity.

@smithinjapan. You could say the same thing to the United States. :-)

@ CVHuan: The difference is that the US will not start war but risks a conventional war in order to protect Israel from a nuclear armed Iran. Top officials in Iran have made threats against Israel. Though attempts to obfuscate the specific phrases of those threats have been made, the overall understanding that Iran views Israel as a Western presence in the Middle East and wants it gone is still clear. And, it is very important to understand that the motive for having Israel gone is not that it is a military threat or even political threat, but that Israel's presence disrupts the religious continuity of the Islamic presence in the region. So this is religious. And if one understands that Islam's founding text openly commands violent opposition to all unbelievers, then one can also understand that this Islamic aggression will not stop in the Middle East if Israel is removed or in the US, but also become a thorn in the side of China. And I think that China has already begun to understand this by having to deal with the conflicts created by the Uighurs.

@smithinjapan: I guess Iran's not preparing for a peaceful 2012. Pity.

So, by the same token, do you feel the same type of pity when the US conducts military drills all across the world, not only just on its own territorial waters? So, you want to take away Iran's sovereign right to conduct military exercises on international waters? No, as far as I know, there is no Iranian bases on the island of Okinawa and no Iranian soldiers gang raped and battered a school girl walking home? I have been conducting a research on the actions of the US soldiers in Okinawa and what I see is disgusting and really pitiful. A nation (with a military budget one-100th of that of the US) conducting military drill on its territorial waters should be a much less concern to you than the de facto occupation and rape of Okinawa. Or, the existence of 900 + US bases across the world, for that matter.

@ Sheriff Yilmaz: Thank you for sharing your view. It is always very interesting to see another person's point of view on a subject. What a mix of complex issues and what a complicated history surrounds them. I will not bog down JT or you or me with a point for point run down of what I see to be your own misconceptions, mainly because that would only serve to reiterate my own level of understanding at this time too.

I would like to say that whether Iran decides to cooperate with the international conscience on nuclear technology or not, I hope that they can demonstrate great caution and reserve for peace in the region. Their war game exercises, including the missile test, mentioned in the article here are not wrong at all and is quite understandable. But neither are sanctions wrong. Just as a store owner can deny service to any customer, so each nation also retains this basic right of discretion and protest. Hope it all works out peacefully and best wishes with the new year.

it's about time NATO grew a pair of cahones and tested the latest bunker busting (or whatever) technology on iran's nuclear facilities, the Republican Guard and crazy Mahmood's favourite kebab shop....

@Madverts Someone in the world already is doing those things. The Iranian nuclear program has been hit by a cyber weapon twice, nuclear scientists are getting assassinated and one of their nuclear facilities suffered some kind of boom or explosion damage. I would say someone has grown a pair, they are just doing to slyly.