How much of a farce are our negotiations with Iran over their nuclear program? Something like this belongs in a Marx Brothers movie.

Washington Free Beacon:

ran’s foreign minister and lead negotiator in nuclear talks is known to frequently scream and shout at Western diplomats, including Secretary of State John Kerry, a practice that has caused alarm among bodyguards stationed outside the negotiating room, according to a member of the Iranian diplomatic team who spoke to the Farsi-language press.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif—who is scheduled to hold one-on-one talks with Kerry this evening in Vienna—”frequently shouts at Western diplomats” in such a forceful manner that bodyguards have hurriedly entered the negotiation room on occasion worried that an incident might occur, according to one Iranian diplomat involved in negotiations who spoke anonymously with the Iranian press earlier this week.

On one occasion, Zarif’s shouts were so loud that a member of the Iranian delegation entered the negotiation room to check on the players, according to the report, which was independently translated for the Free Beacon.

Upon entering, the Iranian official was informed by European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton, a chief western negotiator, that Zarif was just shouting and she had gotten used to it, according to an independent translation of the report.

The report of Zarif’s aggressive behavior is consistent with previous reports claiming that Iranian negotiators tend to treat their Western counterparts—particularly the Americans—with scorn.

Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi, another member of the negotiating team, is reported to have said in an interview that during past negotiations in Geneva, Zarif “shouted” at Kerry and spoke to him in a way that was likely “unprecedented” in the history of U.S. diplomacy.

And Kerry just sits there and takes it. Rude, insulting behavior toward our diplomats should be cause to get up and leave until the Iranians grow up. Unless Kerry thinks we deserve it, in which case he's the one probably doing the apologizing.

In Iran, the way you move up the ladder is to constantly demonstrate how unbalanced your hatred of the Great Satan is. The more violently you express yourself, the more convinced your superiors are of your loyalty. Inside the lunatic asylum that is Iran, someone like Zarif fits in comfortably with the rest of the leadership who are equally paranoid and  carry a gigantic inferiority complex.

And these are our partners for peace in the Middle East? Sheesh.