The Iranian mullahs have spoken. 25,000 dead or perhaps 40,00 dead is not enough, if the price to pay for finding  victims of this weeks horrendous earthquake who might still be alive under the rubble means accepting support from the "zionist entity" (not a state of course),  the country in the world  perhaps best skilled for the task at hand. "We greatly welcome any assistance from the United States. We welcome assistance from all countries except Israel," said Kerman city governor Alavi.

Not so many years back, Israeli teams helped save the lives of several Turkish victims of a disastrous earthquake in that country. When these types of natural disasters occur, normal, decent, rational human beings seek to save lives, not continue to play politics. National leaders with concern for those affected by such a tragedy will accept help from those who have the skills to assist, and which may be lacking in the native land. But Iran is a nation in the grip of a hideous ideology. President Bush was right to label the country part of an axis of evil.

The Iranian people have become increasingly divorced over the years from the mullahs' ideology, which drove the Khomeini revolution against the Shah in 1979.  Decades of economic underperformance, the denial of basic political rights,  the repression of dissent and the press have all made the leadership highly unpopular, especially among the large number of young Iranians.

It is almost a certainty that the high death toll from this earthquake, and the inevitably slow recovery, and reconstruction which follows (not to mention the blame for the sholddy consruction that allowed so many to die), will not put the rulers in a more favorable light. Their priorities remain the same — developing a nuclear capacity, with which to threaten Israel and other neighboring states, and securing long range missiles from North Korea to deliver whatever toxins or weapons have been developed and created. Israel is aware of this, of course, and pehaps the next  Israeli visit to Iran, will also be an uninvited one, and not for earthquake relief.

Posted by Richard  12 28 03

Comment by Thomas

If the mullahs botch the recovery from the earthquake, it will have politically explosive potential to hasten the end of their brutal theocracy. Given the high levels of alienation, skepticism, and cynicism which seem to obtain among Iran's populace, especially the young people, the news that the mullahs turned down an offer of aid from Israel could be symbolically potent.

Having been spoon—fed a diet of anti—Israel propaganda, the rebellious youth may be especially receptive to hearing the other side of the story: that Israel is a normal state, one with a philanthropic impulse towards the sufferings of the Iranian populace. While the Iranians are Muslim, they are not Arabs, they are Persians, whose historic antagonists  are Arabs. Hundreds of thousands of young Iranians died fighting PLO—supporter and Terror bomber funder Saddam Hussein.

Israel has a Farsi language radio service, does it not? Farsi language satellite television service is beamed into Iran from Los Angeles, is it not? We can expect that their own government's indifference to their suffering could hasten the day that the mullahs face the wrath of their own people.