Inside Iran Broadcast 02/15/07 BBC 4

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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17118.htm

Video Runtime 98 Minutes


"Rageh Omaar embarks on a unique journey inside what he describes as one of the most misunderstood countries in the world, looking at the country through the eyes of people rarely heard - ordinary Iranians.

It took a year of wrangling to get permission to film inside Iran but the result is an amazing portrayal of an energetic and vibrant country that is completely different to the usual images seen in the media. A country of contrasts

Rageh soon discovers that Tehran is a complex place and uncovers a city of extremes of wealth and poverty, where some people survive on less than a dollar a day and others shop till they drop in glitzy shopping malls."

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1. Sounds like the US. nt

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2. Yes in some ways and the citizens are working toward changing

their own government, hopefully we will not do anything foolish.

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3. Why Iran 'meddles' in Iraq

"Is Tehran's supposed involvement malign, or are its interests in the war legitimate?"
By Adam Shatz
ADAM SHATZ is literary editor of the Nation.

http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/fairenough/latimes829.html

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"Still, is it fair to characterize Iran's involvement in Iraq as "malign," or, for that matter, as "meddling" (in contrast, say, to the presence of 130,000 American troops in Iraq)? Might Iran have legitimate interests in what is, after all, its own geographic neighborhood?

Could it be that Iran's stake in Iraq is solidly grounded in the same realist principles that drive the behavior of most nations, rather than in "malign intentions" or a desire to export the Islamic revolution?

In thinking about Iran's behavior, it's important to remember that the United States has made plain its determination to curb Iranian influence in the region — by force of arms, if necessary. From Iran's perspective, the U.S. is an implacable enemy that has rebuffed its diplomatic overtures. No state likes to see a hostile army stationed in its backyard.

If Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has indulged Ahmadinejad's rhetorical extremism, it may be because he expected to be rewarded, rather than punished, for Iran's assistance to the United States in Afghanistan and Iraq."