What's going on with the US and Iran?

One question that should be on everyone's mind is - what is going on with the US and Iran Recently there has been discussion of military intervention in Iran by the US or Israel and Bush just handed down a Presidential Finding detailing the vast increase in covert operations being carried out in Iran by the US.

An article appeared today in the BBC International News section entitled "Iran Leader Plays Down War Talk." I have included a section that I think is particularly interesting...

"But Mr Ahmadinejad warned that Iran was ready to defend itself, saying that "the greatest threat in the Middle East and the whole world... is the United States' intervention in other countries". He also suggested that Iran would not launch any attack on Israel - America's ally in the Middle East. "There is no need for any measures by the Iranian people" to bring about the end of the "Zionist regime" in Israel, Mr Ahmadinejad said. And asked if he objected to the government of Israel or Jewish people, he said that "creating an objection against the Zionists doesn't mean that there are objections against the Jewish".
He added that Jews lived in Iran and were represented in the country's parliament. Mr. Ahmadinejad's comments came after he was asked to clarify the statement that he wanted to "destroy" Israel."

There have been wisperings going on for months (if not years - see Semour Hersh's articles in the New Yorkers starting in 2005) about possible US military action in Iran.

A little historical perspective...in 1953 the CIA and British Intelligence forces took out the new popularly elected Prime Minister of Iran, Mohammad Mosaddeq. The coup made way for the pro-western Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi who was in power until the Islamic Revolution in 1979. All in all this is not the first time that the US has considered meddling in Iranian affairs.

For more information on the 1953 coup check out this link. For more information on current events between the US and Iran check out this link to Seymour Hersh's ongoing commentary on the New Yorker website.

So the question remains- what is going on between the US and Iran? Keep your eyes open.