The Big Earth Shattering Ka-Boom

Today was the 31st anniversary of the Iranian "revolution" that deposed the Shah and instituted a theocratic dictatorship with a figurehead 'elected' president. I posted about it here. Today, Ahmadinejad announced that Iran is now a nuclear state. From the Daily Mail:

Iran is now a 'nuclear state' says Ahmadinejad as thousands take to the streets
Iran is now a 'nuclear state', President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced this morning.

As Gordon Brown warned that the world's patience is wearing thin, Ahmadinejad told scores of cheering Iranians that the Islamic Republic is capable of producing weapons-grade uranium.

He spoke as tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Tehran to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

Despite fears of violence, opposition supporters found themselves largely overwhelmed by the clerical regime and pro-government demonstrators. The massive security clampdown appeared to succeed in preventing protesters from converging into a cohesive demonstrations.

Large numbers of riot police, members of the Revolutionary Guard and Basij militiamen, some on motorcycles, deployed in back streets near key squares and major avenues in the capital to move against protesters.

Tell us something we do not know. He had said from the outset that it wasn't for nukes, it was just for electricity. He lied. Electricity requires a much lower grade of enrichment -- you want to release the energy over a five or ten year period, not in a few milliseconds. You can use a higher level of enrichment but it makes control a lot trickier. Israel has nukes but no other Middle Eastern state has them. Iran will destabilize the entire area. Somewhere a clock is ticking... Of course, Israel is the logical choice for taking out the enrichment facilities but Ahmadinejad is warning them. From Yahoo/Reuters:

Ahmadinejad warns Israel against any military move
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel should be resisted and finished off if it launched military action in the region, state broadcaster IRIB reported on Thursday.

Ahmadeinjad's comments were made when the president spoke over the telephone with his Syrian counterpart late on Wednesday.

Last week, Syria -- a key regional ally of Iran -- accused Israel of pushing the Middle East toward a new war.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, in an interview broadcast on Wednesday, said Israeli aircraft were making daily incursions into Lebanese air space, creating a very dangerous situation.

"We have reliable information ... that the Zionist regime is after finding a way to compensate for its ridiculous defeats from the people of Gaza and Lebanon's Hezbollah," Ahmadinejad told Syria's Bashar al-Assad, referring to conflicts in 2006 and 2009.

"If the Zionist regime should repeat its mistakes and initiate a military operation, then it must be resisted with full force to put an end to it once and for all."

Here's betting that Ahm-a-dinner-jacket will have his ass handed to him if he tries anything. The Israeli military is not to be trifled with...