AND MORE TALKS – AT 8:57 A.M. ET:  We are only six days away from a crucial Baghdad meeting between Western powers and Iran, over Tehran's nuclear program.

Stories are flying all around.  One is that new photographs from inside Iran have surfaced proving that Iran has already achieved nuclear-weapons capability.  Another, equally ominous, is that the West, influenced by Barack Obama, is about to cave in.  Israeli Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Barak is sounding the alarm on American interview shows today.  There are some, and I fear there are people around Obama among them, who simply want a piece of paper to sign with Iran, to show that "diplomacy works."

At the same time, Iran is playing us shrewdly.  The Persians historically have been excellent diplomats, and pride themselves in winning through words and psychology.  From Reuters:

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili warned Thursday that applying pressure on the Islamic Republic in upcoming nuclear talks would not impede Iran's nuclear progress, but rather it would serve to encourage Tehran to localize nuclear technology.

Representatives from Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers held talks on Iran's controversial nuclear program in Istanbul on April 14 and were scheduled to meet again on May 23 in Baghdad.

On Thursday, Press TV quoted Jalili as saying that the Baghdad talks must seek "cooperation" based on respect for the rights of the Iranian nation. He rejected the notion that time was running out for dialogue.

“Today, what is running out is the time for applying pressure and this approach has failed to bear results,” Jalili stated.

COMMENT:  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  No, it's time for dialogue that's running out.  With each passing day, Iran gets closer and closer to a nuclear weapon, which will change the face of the region.

And it has also been revealed, in a well-timed leak from Washington, that Iran is supplying weapons to the brutal Syrian regime.  And getting away with it.

May 17, 2012