A riddle wrapped in an enigma

Russia "is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma," Winston Churchill said during one of his legendary radio broadcasts in 1939. If Churchill were alive today, he'd probably use those exact words to describe Iran.

Assassinations of nuclear scientists, mysterious computer viruses that infiltrate centrifuge systems, a series of unexplained explosions at "unique" sites within weeks of each other – all this makes us wonder whether we're at war with Iran without actually having declared war. The fallen secret American drone that recently ended up in Iranian hands almost entirely intact (and may very well soon end up in Chinese and Russian hands) compounds this great riddle: Is all this coincidence, or is it perhaps being orchestrated-

The Nov. 12 explosion at a Revolutionary Guard missile depot signaled the start of a series of blasts. The second was at a nuclear facility in Isfahan and the third, on Sunday, was at a privately owned steel mill in Yazd. As in the Isfahan incident, several conflicting versions surfaced to explain the steel mill explosion. At least this time the Iranians didn't remove reports from official websites. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited the steel mill in question earlier this year. The cause of the blast may be unclear, but it is certain this is no ordinary steel mill. For some reason, the many Parsi Cola factories in the country haven't been hit by any mysterious blasts. Could it be because the local cola makers have nothing to do with Iran's nuclear program?

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Several weeks ago, German media reported that North Korea had been providing Iran with a unique type of steel used to build uranium enrichment centrifuges. This bit of information sheds interesting light on Sunday's steel mill blast. We mustn't rule out the possibility that these "mysterious" explosions are part of a covert war waged by Western intelligence agencies against the Islamic Republic of Iran. It that is in fact the case, it appears that the West has decided to destroy Iran's nuclear program in increments.

If someone is orchestrating these achievements, intelligence has played an important role. And one of its players has been captured: the Americans' secret RQ170 drone -- if, in fact, that is the aircraft the Iranians currently possess, and not some Trojan horse. (Honestly, can anyone really say anything about Iran with any degree of certainty these days-) Iran proved that it is no sitting duck with the capture of this drone. But the excellent condition in which they found it also raises questions: Is it possible that someone in Tehran or in Washington helped the aircraft land where it landed?

This entire story has only one predictable and non-mysterious element: the U.S. president. In his consistently naive manner, Barack Obama tried to appeal to Iran's leaders, like something out of a comedy sketch show. It was like he was saying, "I appeal to your heart, Mahmoud, please give me back my toy – I mean my drone …"

So, until the next explosion/computer virus/drone/assassination, Iran remains a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. And the copyright, as always, belongs to Churchill.

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