Clash And Cash: Today's Iran News

Iran's instability continues to grow. Last week, 11 Revolutionary Guards were killed in an attack on a bus. Then last Friday, there was this:

Following a bomb blast, clashes have broken out between armed militants and police in the south-eastern Iranian city of Zahedan, even as police sealed off the area and exchanged fire with the attackers, state media have reported. (source)

The reason for the skirmishes is -- guess what!? -- Sunni/Shi'ite tensions! You betcha! It's the magic potion that keeps the fires burning throughout the Islamic world, where the religion relishes violence for a god that relishes violence. Here's the International Herald Trib:

A second bomb was set off in Zahedan on Friday evening. The semiofficial Fars press agency reported that it had caused no casualties. But the news agency said that the police had exchanged gunfire with an armed group after the blast.

Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchistan Province, is home to many ethnic Baluchis, who are Sunni Muslims. A majority of Iranians are Shiites. A Baluchi group opposed to the government, the Jundallah Organization of Iran, claimed responsibility for both attacks.

For the moment, Iran's blaming Pakistan. Count to three and Bush will be behind it all, and Mah- "I'm in the moud for Sunni-kabobs" Ahmadinejad (rhymes with "They're better than Jews, but Sunnis are bad") will be using the Zahedan bombs as a justification for the nation's nuclear program.

Speaking of nukes, Ahmadinejad's having no fun there, either. BBC reports:

Russian officials have warned work on an Iranian nuclear plant may be delayed because Iran is late with payments.

Russia has agreed a $1bn (£513m) deal to generate electricity at the Bushehr nuclear plant in southern Iran.

Under the Bushehr deal, Russia would have started fuel shipments by March, launched the plant in September and begun to generate electricity by November.

Russia's Federal Nuclear Power Agency spokesman Sergey Novikov said the "launch schedule definitely could be affected" by the delay in payments.

One unnamed Russian official told Associated Press Iran was blaming "technical reasons" for the delay. Iran has not commented officially.

Technical reasons? Did Ahmadinejad lose his pin number?

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