Iranian Technology Boom

With all of the news attention being given to Irans developement of nuclear technology, the world has paid little attention to the wave of Iranian technological breakthroughs that have come about in the last few weeks. In the last two weeks alone, Iran has claimed three breakthroughs to their people on their state-run television network.

The first breakthrough is that Iran has apparently developed a "new way of tracking aircraft, independent of radar", according to the Iranian Defense Minister. Wow, such technology might make it risky for the US to send in their expensive but elusive B-2 stealth bomber and F-117 stealth fighters to take out their nuclear facilities. Better think twice about air strikes...

Their second new breakthrough is that they have recently debuted their first ever indiginously built fighter jet. Supposedly, this new fighter is "similar to the American F-18 but stronger", according, again, to the Iranian Defense Minister. The good news, the Iranian fighter looks a heck of a lot like a dolled up F-5E Tiger II (which we sold them years ago), the same fighter that our American pilots fly against at Top Gun! Isn't it ironic?

The third advancement, unveiled at a time when the United Nations is considering sanctions against Iran, is on the medical front. Iran claims to have developed a drug for AIDS containment that can also be applied in cases of weak immune systems. This is quite the breakthrough for a country whose last "breakthrough" on the AIDS front was when they began passing out condoms and syringes to inmates in their prisons only a few years ago. The traditional Iranian response to AIDS has been public shaming and in the cases of unmarried women (even as young as 16), public hanging if pre-marital sex is suspected. Of course, the sharing of this new advance might be in jeopardy if sanctions are enforced on the country.

All of these advances show the fragile situation that Iranian President Ahmadinejad finds himself in. His lies about his "new technological advances" are intended more for his own people than for the World. The Iranian President knows that he is about to find himself between a rock and a hard place over his domestic nuclear program. Sanctions against his country could prove to erode the stability of the Iranian regime. The regime is already making moves at home to silence liberals and moderates. Iran's President urged students yesterday to purge their Universities of liberal and secular teachers in an attempt to shore-up his Islamic fundamental base.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad continues to call for a debate with U.S. President George W. Bush. So far, the best response to this call can be found from political cartoonist Michael Remirez: