WARNING ON IRAN – AT 9:46 P.M. ET:  As Gilda Radner used to say, it's always something.  Now the Russians are warning that Iran's damaged nuclear program can be dangerous.  From London's Telegraph:

Russian nuclear scientists are providing technical assistance to Iran's attempts activate the country's first nuclear power plant at the Gulf port.

But they have raised serious concerns about the extensive damage caused to the plant's computer systems by the mysterious Stuxnet virus, which was discovered last year and is widely believed to have been the result of a sophisticated joint US-Israeli cyber attack. According to Western intelligence reports, Russian scientists warned the Kremlin that they could be facing "another Chernobyl" if they were forced to comply with Iran's tight deadline to activate the complex this summer.

After decades of delays over the plant, which was first commissioned by the Shah in the 1970s, Iran's leaders are demanding that scientists stick to the schedule set last year. They argue that any delay would be a blow to Iran's international prestige.

COMMENT:  Then if something goes wrong, the Iranians can blame the U.S. and Israel, which is what they're culturally programmed to do anyway.

January 16, 2011