kactus

I kid you not kiddo! I detest them all. Happy?

The problem is they cannot. When you have religious clergies ruling the country this is the mess they find themselves in...Ayatollahs are problem and US is just exploiting this to make money. It has always been about money. Forget the liberation, human rights and all that jazz...They are just soundbites....

I think to instigate the war with Iran will take the country back to the pre war situation with Iraq in 80's. Ofcourse the war is about making money. It is not clear whether it will work for Iranians and in the absence of credible opposition the situation may even get worse

And you hate all Iranians therefore it must be good

That is a valid point DOP. Granted that the mulch regime is despicable and not to be trusted. I just have a problem with you comparing it with Nazis. I absolutely detest the mullahs

This is a very naive question! Saudi Arabia creates employment and work for the US by buying arms. It is good for business and job creation.

Like I said you are undermining the atrocities of WWII by making the comparison to the Iranian regime.... Your problem is to make things up by linking the despotic Iranian regime to the nazis yet neglecting the very reality that it was German nazis that threw jews into those chambers not the ayatollahs. Anyways....that's a bit digressing from this topic as with you the conversation is always leading to this end.... You are free to believe that Iran was responsible for murdering 6mil jews.

Whilst I detest the repressive ideological regime that has misruled, isolated and tarnished Iran's international image for the last forty years it doesn't mean at all that one would accept the extremist far right (frankly loony right-wing style !) Depiction of Iran as an "imminent danger to global security". That, I am afraid, is extreme right-wing delusional nonsense. No one has the right to threaten Iran with the destruction of its sites of great cultural and historical value. That would be tantamount to war crimes and international thuggery.Trump is not Churchill, for heaven's sake .This is not 1940 and the "Islamic Republic" is not Nazi Germany. The most reactionary elements of the Israeli and American right-wings and their corrupt and characterless Iranian proxies might think like this. War with Iran will only flame the nationalistic fever of either side and bi polarity in a society so divided.

Except Iran is and never will be Germany's 1930's Nazi Germany! Comparison is only undermining the atrocities of World War II. Chamberlain appeasement to Hitler analogy does not work.... You of all people should know this given your family's (.....never mind appeasement.....) but association with Nazis. It is a bit of 'Schadenfreude over Kristallnacht' or a friggin flame thrower in SS former Yugoslavia.....

The guy you are referring to has also been fighting ISIS along US. Assassinating him will make Iran now vulnerable to attacks by ISIS.

The reason NHS in UK is in so much dire is not because of immigration but lack of investment by the government......Regardless of the immigration policy the Tory government is encouraging individuals to take a private health care and inevitably release pressure on an already under funded establishment......It is funny when BoJo pledges recruitment of 50k additional nurses by 2025 it is a lie!!! The man has been full of lies and deception and an insult to the NHS. So spare me your propaganda machine with blaming NHS fiasco squarely on immigration.

Bingo.....

This is some Market initial reaction oil price fear of an Iranian retaliation on supply oil that I think might happen 1- Possible oil supply disruptions 2- Attack on Saudi installations 3- Closing of straight of Hormuz Possible scenarios this may not happen. Market discounting all disruptions: a. Iran needs Iraq oil export revenue b. Saudi installation well defended and any disruption temporary c. closing straight of Hormuz temporary as it would affect China and South East Asia Iran's biggest allies d. Oil demand and supply not as tight as predicted with some hidden 4-5 mil hidden supply available from Norway and African countries e. World Economy 2020 better than expected as China, EU and US plan economic stimulus therefore possibly a demand surprise.....

I was reading about the death of this general and there are several points that begs a question depending on how one assesses this situation. Whilst I am no advocate of the Iranian regime it is important to establish some facts.... This general is well known for his fight against ISIS https://edition.cnn.com/middleeast/live-news/baghdad-airport-strike-live-intl-hnk/h_02d5a17ad0eebe80128bda0388b8be36 The timing of this assasination is crucial. Trump facing impeachment this will provide him a golden nugget to get the distraction. Besides the republican house of senate majority will ensure he gets off the hook. But the question is what is the US strategy taking down a man when the president does not consult his allies in Europe and pissed off when Europeans are not supportive of him. It is debatable the killing of Soleimani formed an assasination or a targeted killing. It is all semantics but if it is former then it can be considered as violation of international laws by committing an act of terrorism against a high profile official. It is the same thing when Trump threatens to target and destroy 52 sites in Iran including 'cultural sites' that is against the international law and Mike Pompeo has to retract from comments made by Trump about targeting cultural sites! It is debatable whether the killing of General Soleimani by the US will strengthen the solidarity of Iranians behind the current regime especially at a time when the public discontent with the regime was at peak as evident by recent rallies and arrests. Same thing can be said about hardcore Trump supporters, who rally behind him for taking this action.

When you have a president in the US abusing his power for personal gains then it does bring one’s integrity into question. It is called ‘conflict of interest’. I don’t care about ‘soundbites’ like “apophenia”, “schizophrenia”, “pareidolia”....whichever way it fits the rhyme or the media shales the agenda.

I think the election results on Brexit is indicative of the growing nationalist sentiments in various regions of the country. In scotland, SNP won seats previously held by Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson boldening the position of Independence of Scotland yet opposing the Brexit as Scotland voted for remain. In England the majority vote swinged to conservative to push with Brexit and again finding its nationalistic roots to push for independence from Europe. With BoJo given the chance as the running prime minister for the next 5 years he has to decide whether to push the nationalistic agenda further to the right or shift the public opinion more towards a centre position. Eitherway, the nationalistic fervour are testing times yet quite a dangerous phase for the country.

Call me cynic but I think this whole thing about the unpopularity of the labour leader seems to have played well for Tories. People are tired of status quo and want to get Brexit done.

Interesting point but I think this isn’t about the liberal minded but the whole Iranian society. It is worth noting that what we are witnessing is a shift in paradigm. The regime’s slogans in the early days of revolution was primarily targeted at the poor/ working class. They were the pillars of the revolution that bolstered their political and religious sphere. The working class were made promises about reforms and getting subsidies from the government. Interestingly, the systematic sanctions put in place by the US and the recent rise in fuel has hit the very core of supporters of the regime that in essence supported it. Higher petrol prices mean that those who often do more than one job and do taxi work will now have to pay more for fuel which inevitably eats into their wages And a spiral down absolute poverty. When people are hungry they don’t care about religion or politics. The disgruntled poor are now at odds with the clergies. The lessons of cold war and USSR manifests this belief which led to the end of nuclear arms race...

Why is it a good thing? It shows lack of sportsmanship when Iranian authorities ban any competitor taking part in competing against an Israeli. I think it is absolutely ridiculous to ban Iranian athletes from competing against Israelis in any sport discipline and let the Iranian athlete forgo their title. Do you ever realise how many Iranians were banned from competition simply because their opponents were Israelis? I recently watched a cage fight between an Iranian and an Israeli where the Iranian guy was banned from future competitions despite his win. That is inhumane. He chose not to honour the government of Iran's policy of not fighting an Israeli. Whilst I may not agree with many Israelis governments policies I think it is totally unacceptable to mix politics with sport. It is worth noting that the domestic issues and recent protests in Iran speak volume about cracks widening in the foundations of the regime. If only puppet western governments (notably europeans) would forgo their financial interest with mullahs and support Iranian people....

Two things that led the change in the United Kingdom were separation of church from the state initiated by Henry VIII and the industrial revolution. The sentiment of secularism manifests my belief on how a country should be governed. It may be far fetched for now but the idea is pretty much aligned with the younger generation in Iran who have no recollection of the pre-revolution era 40 years ago. Iran had 2500 years of monarchy prior to the revolution. I am a great advocate of the separation of religion and politics as there is no place for a mullah in politics. Religion is a tool to make money and they will fight to the tooth to hold their grip on power at the expense of the indigenous population. I do agree with you that change there will have to be initiated by people. If the West sticks its nose out of Iran’s affairs by cosying up to the mullahs this can facilitate the right environment for change and for people to revolt. I don’t see that happening though given the past history.

It is exactly for that reason that the West should ‘stick their nose in Iranian affair but this time in favour of disgruntled Iranian people and not the regime. It is very disappointing there is very little coverage in the news about the brutality of this regime using live rifles killing hundreds of dissidents. The only country that has shown disapproval of the brutality of this regime has been Sweden.

And there’s prospect for Corbyn to get in....Who would have thought. The handling of Brexit by BoJo is as ridiculous as Trump’s re-election

This has nothing to do with EU disallowing the current extension and everything to do with lack of decisiveness in UK government of what they actually want.