Anybody else out there...

Thinking... "Thank goodness for the Strategic Air Command?"

-- TEHRAN (AFP) -- Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged on Monday that Iran would never yield to Western pressure over its nuclear programme, and it would outsmart "drunken and arrogant" Western opponents in the standoff.

Next to enriching plutonium, the most popular activity in Iran these days seems to be howling at the moon.

It's not just El Supremo who's out on a megalomaniacal tear... President Mahmoud "Madman" Ahmadinejad has also climbed back on board the "Crazy Train."

In a speech the day earlier he sought to justify his confidence that the United States would not attack Iran, saying the proof comes from his mathematical skills as an engineer and his faith in God.

He said he told people who believed otherwise: "I am an engineer and I am a master in calculation and tabulation.

Geez, Mahmoud, that sounds, uh... intriguing... tell me more.

"I draw up tables. For hours, I write out different hypotheses. I reject, I reason. I reason with planning and I make a conclusion. They cannot make problems for Iran."

"God says that those who walk in the path of righteousness will be victorious. What reason can you have for believing God will not keep this promise?"

Hey George, let's take another look at that strike package... right now.

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UPDATE: A ray of hope

Former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been elected speaker of a powerful clerical body responsible for supervising Iran's Supreme Leader.

Considered a "pragmatic conservative", Mr Rafsanjani's victory will also be seen as a blow to Iran's hardline president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Tehran says there is now a clear divide in Iranian politics between supporters of Mr Rafsanjani and those of Mr Ahmadinejad, and a complex power struggle is being carried out behind the scenes.

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FROM THE COMMENTS:

"anon said... Jack bin Layton can polish his negotiating skills with the Taliban before he has to deal with these guys."

"skip said... Jack Bin Layton is one of these guys."

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