Ashkenazi: "Iran is not irrational"... (and yes, the Iranians "halted their program in 2003'")

Haaretz, here

".... "The Iranian regime is radical, but it's not irrational," said Ashkenazi. "If the regime sees international insistence, its not illogical to assume that it will change its direction." "In 2003, the Iranians halted their nuclear program (agree with the 2007' NIE?!) after they understood that the Americans were on their way to Iraq, and knew that Iran was next in line," he added.

Meanwhile, Turkish and Iranian officials met secretly this week on the sidelines of an Istanbul summit, according to a Turkish daily.

President Barack Obama said on Monday that an unsettled political situation in Iran may be complicating efforts to seal a nuclear fuel deal between Tehran and major world powers.

Obama told Reuters in an interview that the United States had made more progress toward global nuclear non-proliferation in the last several months than in the past several years. "But it is going to take time, and part of the challenge that we face is that neither North Korea nor Iran seem to be settled enough politically to make quick decisions on these issues," he said at the White House...."