Well look at this, i thought the lowest Ynet could get was Yair Lapid. Prooved myself wrong. We got this new illiterate specimen with a column of his own just as bad, if not worse. Now we have zoroastrians monotheistic believing and serving the ONE G-d. Paghhhh! That should make headlines Iranians are good hearted people who don't hate jews. Great, pay them visit, I'll gladly arrange for your trip Hittler was a smaller fry than Ahmadinejad , and look what he did. Ahmadinejad vowed to vanish Israel Ahmadinejad vowed to continue his nuke developments Ahmadinejad does not react to internatiol opinion Ahmadinejad is no small fry It takes Holocaust deniers like him and self hate jews like you to make any antisemite's dream possible

Where does Ynet find these idiots?

David, You stated in your article: "The normal people of Iran do not hate us, nor do they want war with us. They do not want to destroy us, and in actual fact, they do not know us, and could not care less what happens outside their own locality." I believe you are fairly accurate. However, it is not these normal people that are in charge of their national goals and military. Iran is goverened by fanatical Islamic clerics who want to ignite a holy war.

If this is supposed to be satire, it is too subtle to be appreciated. If this is not satire, David Verveer is a retard.

It's the petrodollars and who controls them. And Right now it's the ayatollahs who are in control. No matter what a "small fry" Ahmadinejad is, he has the money and the power to destroy Israel and so far he's doing a rather good job.

Poland was home to millions of Jews where at first they were secure among Poles ran buisnesses and look what that turnerd out to be. I think you can join Olmer Peretz and Halutz. They might make you deputy Defense Minister and the we will have true administration of Chelm. Dave For real Wake up and smell the coffee.

this guy is a clown, c'mon, let's be realistic. Ahmebayad is getting too much attention...he's even funny. I have my doubts that Iran would use nukes against israel...I guess they want it to make the US think twice before they decide to do with iran what has been done with iraq and afghanistan (do not forget that US invaded afghanistan when it was ruled by people who the US put in the power). Let's be logical...I mean, I am not an expert on nukes, but i guess it would be more than enough with 1 bomb to ruin half israel in 10 second and for many years...but...would iran run the danger of damaging Al-Aqsa, Jerusalem??? Fanatic muslims responsible of the destruction of the Dome of the Rock? do not think so. Support from lebanese, syrians, jordanians, egyptians who would of course suffer the consequences of radiation? do not think so. If iran wants a conflict, a global one, it just needs the us. Fighting iran militarily would be a mistake of fatal consequences...for the sake of israel it is preferable iran having nukes than all arab world jumping on his neck...and yeah, there is a chance israel could win such a conflict, but, how many israeli lives are you willing to sacrifice? Let's say they get the nukes...so what? isn`'t pakistan more dangerous? and israel has nukes too, so....what...and exchange of fire to find out if someone can survive that? I really do not want to imagine the consequences of a war with iran....not only fearing for israel, but for the whole planet. So...economical sanctions? yeah...let's starve to deathvthe people who may not even know what this shit is about...like in cuba....yeah...let's make collective punishments so they love us a bit more. Talk with iran, talk with syria...it's better to have them sitting on a table talking, even if it's bullshit, that having them in the battlefield... If u look at it coldly, you will find out that there are much more chances that israel is destroyed during a global regional conflict than with iran having it's nukes. Really, you all say he's a retarded, but it looks you believe too many things said by this retarded.....there's a saying in spain that says "dog that barks a lot, but doesn't bite at all". But well, after all, thanks to US policies now we have a nice axis of countries...afghanistan, ruled by people supported by the US when invaded....we have iran....what to say....and to finish, we have iraq, a country ruled by someone sponsored by the US cos was fighting iran....isn't it iranic? ...more wars just will make this much worst, the risk for israel would be bigger than iran having nukes...attacking israel, what they really do is attacking the states...nothig else for them. שלום לישראל

65 years ago the Germans were at least 100 times more advanced than the Iranians are now. And we all know how it ended... The way i see it now, is that the monkey wont rest until he sends his country back to the dark ages!

its not ancient Persia or the small man in the streets of Tehran that are developing nukes aimed at Tel Aviv. Its the current filthy fascist regime. You can blow off this real threat, but we as a country would do so at the risk of a second Holocaust. Take Ahmadinejad seriously or else.....somebody needs to flatten these facilities.

What might, in some ways, make him more dangerous than some of America's previous enemies like, say, the Soviet Union, is that this maniac in Iran has an apocalyptic vision which precludes him from accepting a policy like mutually assured destruction, for instance. Therefore, unlike the Soviets, his attitude toward a nuclear cataclysm is more likely to be "Bring it on."

I was born and raised in Iran and don't agree to at least two supposed facts in this article. Iran before the Shah did not have a middle class. Baloney, not true. Not a large middle class but definitely a middle class in Tehran. Education was limited to the upper class and the primary education was provided by the clergy. In Tehran there were many secular schools ! Which brings me to question the article as a whole, if not the writer.

Verveer's five years working in Iran can't be said to have brought him wisdom. Yes, there was a venal upper class in the last years of the Shah - something common in neuveux riche countries, but we've seen worse. In fact, the brief time I spent in Iran in '76 showed a country on the move. Construction everywhere, a growing middle class filling the streets with small cars, thousands going to the universities, scholarships to Iranians to study abroad (a grad student friend of mine was on a Pahlavi fellowship), and women's rights were promoted. The real problem is that the country was advancing faster than many in the society could handle. Much of the land affected by the Shah's reforms was held by the Islamic clergy; obviously, they would react. Traditionalist women wearing the chador couldn't accept young Iranian women in uncovered hair and the latest fashion. So while corruption at the top was an issue, The Khomeini revolution should properly be seen as a counter-reaction to accelerated modernization. But Verveer's "no need to worry" attitude, based on popular attitudes, is unwarranted. That many Iranians listen to the Voice of Israel, or stood in solidarity with America after 9/11, that students want freedom and families just want a good life for their children, is irrelevant. They are not in charge. The "finger on the button" is in the hands of the mullahs. They are the paymasters and patrons of Hizbullah, who have already fomented one war against Israel. Ahmadinejad, and many around him, are deliberately fomenting an apocalypse with the intent of bringing the age of the Hidden Imam. Such people are dangerous. Wishful thinking is dangerous. That's why we worry.

Daisy 2# you are so right, they thought Hitler was exaggerating to and look what happended.............

The author is totally wrong. The same was said about Russians. They want live like people in the West, they want democracy. ABSOLUTELY wrong. For Russians the democracy is very, very far on the list. The most important is Russian pride, Russian power, Russian religion. This was very well understud by Lenin, Stalin, and others. Gorbachev fall because he was considered weak, no real Russian, no a patriot of the Motherland. Democracy and other silly stuff did not plat a role in his fall.

You'd think that the experience of the Holocaust would have taught the Jewish people that it doesn't matter if the people of a country are nice and have a long civilised history. With an appropriately crazy leadership, anti-semitic propaganda and the means to carry out a holocaust, it can happen again. Don't let it - Attack Iran now - demonstrate that air power may not work 100% against terrorists right on the border but it works very well against conventional military forces and nuke facilities.

Then who are those people in the millions standing in the streets yelling Death to Israel, death to America? Never under estimate the power of ignorant people in large numbers.

"The normal people of Iran do not hate us, nor do they want war with us." The normal people of Iran do not run the country and the people who do - Islamists - hate Israel and the USA. and they're building an A-bomb.

After reading the article I thought initially it is meant to be a satire. Then I realized David Verveer means what he says. In my opinion his delusional distortions should ot be published because they have absolutely no journalistic value. Why not soliciting an article from the the "small fry" and publishing it on YNet? Guess, it will be as nutty as Davids confabulations.

Verveer's report is based on fantasy. If he thinks Iran nuke threat is not serious, then he must be be living in a different planet. It is time for him to read more Current Affairs books pertaining to this issue and the Middle East conflict before he can intelligently discuss the existential threat that Israel is facing from the Ayatollahs.

We (muslims, not infidels) all live (but hope to die) in a yellow (Hezbollah colors) submarine (bunker). Notice how Ahmedinijhad and Ringo are never seen side by side? Hmm.

Common Iranians have no say in what their leaders do or say. So the issue remains... Get some goggles man!

I do NOT think that you can call the rulers of a country "irrelevant". It is insane to say that !! HOW can you say there is no threat when Ahmadinejad said he wants "to wipe Israel off the face of the earth?" THOSE words are in fact a declaration of war. NO friendly country will ever say those words to another country!! That threat is NOT an exaggeration. So, the civilized world SHOULD deal with the Regime in Teheran swiftly and with toughness. You write :".., the enlightened president of Iran today,..". One who calls for "to wipe Israel off the face of the earth" - that person can NOT be considered to be an enlightened person! SO, on this one you are AGAIN wrong!!!

As this is a rather serious matter, and not my usual satiric approach, allow me to reply to some of the interesting talkbacks. Iran will not attack Israel with nuclear weapons, as such an attack would mean killing also Palestinians, Jerusalem and Muslim holy places. Most talkbacks did not comprehend that I too think that Ahmadinejad is stupid and dangerous, ("enlightend" was sarcastic), but has not sufficient influence and backing to throw Iran in a nuclear battle with the USA. Please stop comparing everything with the holocaust, which is irrelevant and unlike the situation at hand. I advise to read the statistics on Iran,on its middle clas and education system, and read again what I wrote, you will see it is not as wild as you understood, reading it the first time. I never said "don't worry", worry and support the movement trying to overthrow the Iran regime, as that is the only real solution to the problem

"We possess several hundred atomic warheads and rockets and can launch them at targets in all directions, perhaps even at Rome. Most European capitals are targets of our air force." "Our armed forces are not the thirtieth strongest in the world, but rather the second or third. We have the capability to take the world down with us. And I can assure you that this will happen before Israel goes under." Martin van Creveld , the "renowned" Israeli military historian. And You are whining about Ahmadinejad??????

Iran will definitely drop the bomb on Israel when they will have one. Iranian people will kill their leader if he will be weak and decide not to drop the bomb. The bomb is everything for Iranians. Much more than a 1st paragraph of US constitution for US. Most Iranians in US supported Khumeni in 1979 and they will support the bomb now. As to killing Arabs or destroying Jerusalem, they can't care less about those details.

OH DAVID,THE SLINGS AND ARROWS OF DISCOURSE ETC.,ETC.,ETC. HAVE YOU LOOKED IN THAT DARK,forebording closet in your room??????? lately????

You say Iran will not attack Israel with nuke. Sounds naive. Let us see what Iran says about this. On page 224 of her book "World on Fire" [2004], Professor Amy Chua states "Meanwhile in Iran, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, speaking in a Tehran stadium shortly after the attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, "called for Israel's nuclear destruction. A single nuclear bomb would be sufficient to destroy Israel, he said, whereas any Israeli counterstrike could do only limited damage."" Since then, current president Ahmadinejad has repeatedly announced to the world their intention to vaporize Israel. It does not take a Rocket Scientist to put the dots together.

The grave and gathering threat posed by Iran is in her perceived hostile intent, coupled with known capability. They fail to act responsibly. Regarding Israel, Iran has done nothing to convince the Israel they are not completely hostile and would be willing to end the conflict. At least they are not liars like the PLO.

Haha...this article has been so badly timed! From the BBC today: "Iran has reportedly taken another step in its uranium enrichment programme, in defiance of international pressure. It has activated a second set of centrifuges - the machines used to enrich uranium - the semi-official Isna agency has said. " I have alot of respect for the Author of this article to add more to my comment...