Saudis sever ties with Iran, UK on brink of leaving EU again (1 Viewer)

[timschochet]

Nimr was sentenced to death in a closed trial on charges such as being disloyal to the ruling family, using violence and seeking foreign meddling.

This is why I am blaming Saudi Arabia for this mess. I don't know much about this guy, whether he was a genuine protestor, or an agent of Iran, or both. But the fact is that he was a leading spokesman for the Shiite minority calling for free democratic elections and better representation. And what do our "allies" do? They give him a "closed trial" and kill him. No wonder Iran is pissed off.

 

[NCCommish]

Yeah this mess really appears to be on the Saudis. They have gone out of their way to provoke the other side. In some very serious ways. As mentioned this is a calculated play and we shouldn't get dragged into it. Avoid foreign entanglements is still good advice.

 

[jonessed]

God help Russia if they want to become the de facto power player in the ME. They've got too much #### to deal with internally.

They are just propping up dictators. Much easier than trying to establish a democracy. They have already gained quite a lot of international standing with very little investment. Ukraine and the corresponding sanctions are already forgotten.Iran is breaking treaties left and right and nobody cares. If they started developing nuclear weapons again what would we be able to do? Pretty much nothing.

Iran is not the problem here. Saudi Arabia is the problem. (Or at least, the bigger problem.)

They aren't the ones breaking ballistic missile treaties.

 

[jonessed]

Nimr was sentenced to death in a closed trial on charges such as being disloyal to the ruling family, using violence and seeking foreign meddling.

This is why I am blaming Saudi Arabia for this mess. I don't know much about this guy, whether he was a genuine protestor, or an agent of Iran, or both. But the fact is that he was a leading spokesman for the Shiite minority calling for free democratic elections and better representation. And what do our "allies" do? They give him a "closed trial" and kill him. No wonder Iran is pissed off.

Was he Iranian?

 

[NCCommish]

God help Russia if they want to become the de facto power player in the ME. They've got too much #### to deal with internally.

They are just propping up dictators. Much easier than trying to establish a democracy. They have already gained quite a lot of international standing with very little investment. Ukraine and the corresponding sanctions are already forgotten.Iran is breaking treaties left and right and nobody cares. If they started developing nuclear weapons again what would we be able to do? Pretty much nothing.

Iran is not the problem here. Saudi Arabia is the problem. (Or at least, the bigger problem.)

They aren't the ones breaking ballistic missile treaties.

But the deal’s prohibition “doesn’t lie in missile booster or nonnuclear warhead design, or range-payload,” said Anthony Cordesman, an expert on Iranian missile capabilities at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “It only applies to actually developing and deploying a nuclear warhead for a given missile.”

 

[Jobber]

SA is worried about the growing Shia foothold across the middle east. Shia still in the (huge) minority however. Both Iran and SA are fighting a proxy war and that won't change any time soon. Personally, I'm pulling for Iran due to the Saudis supporting AQ/ISIS.

 

[jonessed]

God help Russia if they want to become the de facto power player in the ME. They've got too much #### to deal with internally.

They are just propping up dictators. Much easier than trying to establish a democracy. They have already gained quite a lot of international standing with very little investment. Ukraine and the corresponding sanctions are already forgotten.Iran is breaking treaties left and right and nobody cares. If they started developing nuclear weapons again what would we be able to do? Pretty much nothing.

Iran is not the problem here. Saudi Arabia is the problem. (Or at least, the bigger problem.)

They aren't the ones breaking ballistic missile treaties.

But the deals prohibition doesnt lie in missile booster or nonnuclear warhead design, or range-payload, said Anthony Cordesman, an expert on Iranian missile capabilities at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. It only applies to actually developing and deploying a nuclear warhead for a given missile.

Are you disagreeing with the Obama administration's take? I can't tell. It seems like they would be the only ones privy to the intelligence required to know.