ArmeniaNow SPECIAL REPORT ON IRAN: TROUBLE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

May 26, 2006

Words, especially in the Information Age, are the warning shots of war. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: "Iran is a troublemaker in the international system, a central banker of terrorism.'

President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Iran `would not give a damn' about UN resolutions that could penalize Tehran.

`Born again' Christian, George W. Bush thinks Iran is the `axis of evil'. Muslim fundamentalist and suspected terrorist (Beirut, 1983) Ahmadinejad thinks Bush is an infidel.

When last we heard words similar to those Rice used last Sunday, they were spoken by her predecessor, Colin Powell, to the United Nations when he guaranteed the UN that Iraq housed Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Turns out Powell was misinformed. Turns out it didn't matter. Now Iran.

A recent provocative article in `New Yorker' magazine, refuted by the White House, cited government insiders in claiming that President Bush has held ambitions to invade Iran since before he was even elected president. The in-depth article also says that the US has been actively increasing `clandestine' activities in Iran, in preparation for war, for the purpose of removing Ahmadinejad, whom US military planners have referred to as a `potential Adolph Hitler'.

The war of words wages with precise strikes; collateral damage is not a phenomenon of rhetoric. But what if words turn to action?

Armenia is hardly a player in the Iran Plan. But, nonetheless, this is Armenia's neighborhood and it is Armenia's friend who is next on the Middle East Death Row, awaiting either reprieve or execution.

Trouble in the neighborhood is trouble for all the neighbors. And so, while we can hope that heated talk will lead to cooled heads, we thought it important to hear what some concerned and informed observers say about whether problems for Iran would mean problems for Armenia.

In this special report - a departure from typical reportage of absolutes - we rely on informed opinion, tempered speculation and reasoned analysis, and pray that war as fact will be avoided.