Iran and the United States are participating in a joint military exercise in Kyrgyzstan, along with several other regional militaries. The computer command-post exercise codenamed Regional Cooperation 2008 began on July 15 and will end on July 24, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. The drill takes place in line with bilateral military contacts between the Kyrgyz armed forces and the US Central Command, the Kyrgyz Defense Ministry's press service announced, according to Interfax.
And then there is this rather remarkable statement yesterday from the VP of Iran. Ynet News:
The world is all too familiar with the less-than-friendly epithets directed by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against the "Zionist entity." One wonders, then, how he will take to the surprising statements made his vice president on Saturday in which he proclaims Iran "a friend to the nation in Israel and the United States."
Speaking at a tourism convention in Tehran, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei said: “No nation in the world is our enemy, Iran is a friend of the nation in the United States and in Israel, and this is an honor. We view the American nation as one with the greatest nations of the world.”
His words garnered little attention from the Iranian media and the startling rhetoric only appears on his official internet site. Iranian officials have made statements in the past regarding their country's friendship to America, and often emphasized their stance on deepening relations between the two, but never before has such a statement been made by any member of Iran's top echelon in regards to Israel.
Well, well. Am I the only one smelling wolf?
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