Relations between the United States and Iran are as delicately poised as at any time in their troubled history since the early 1950s. Robert Fisk, the great chronicler of the Middle East at The Independent, recently wrote that it occurred to him that the final score in this unique round of the Iraq war between the US and the "forces of evil" is a "draw".
Yet one cannot be sure. Is that the final score? There may be "extra time" ahead, and if a conclusive win still eludes, a "penalty shootout" may ensue. The trouble is, no one knows the rules of the game anymore.
To be sure, the Iranian leadership has closed ranks - as it always does whenever the revolutionary heritage comes under US siege. Even for reasons of intellectual dilettantism, it becomes difficult to drive a sheet of paper between the various noisy factions and cliques and sub-cliques that usually inhabit the labyrinthine corridors of power in Tehran.
Iran senses that the United Nations Security Council resolution imposing limited sanctions over its nuclear program contains many "menacing" points, testifying to the fact that the "enemies of the Islamic Republic have plans against the country", to quote former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
There is no inclination from any quarter of the collective leadership to exploit the Security Council resolution to score domestic political points, let alone to embarrass President Mahmud Ahmedinejad's government. There is a time for everything. The hurly-burly of the recent elections to the Expediency Council is done. No one seems to care which faction won, which one lost. Once again, the outside world's apocalyptic predictions have been belied.
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