As President Obama considers what to do about Iran, he should be aware of the historical precedents for that country's strategic maneuvers in the region. Iran is in the process of filling the vacuum of the defunct Ottoman Empire's influence in the Middle East and even to some extent in Central Asia. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins
Rather weak and confused semi-historical account. The Persians are only slightly more than 50% of the population of Iran, but this fact is not mentioned in the article. Iran supports the territorial integrity of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. On the other hand, Iran is deeply concerned about the instability in Afghanistan, caused largely by US military activities.
Iran likely would accept Israel within its pre-1967 borderds, if this result was acceptable to the Palestinians. Otherwise, Iran supports the single-state solution which would mean an end to Israel as a Jewish state. Ironically, Bibi Netanyahu may be seriously compromising Israel's own security, by working so hard to prevent the emergence of an independent Palestine.