What's the matter with Iranian national pride?

■"Across Iran, Nuclear Power Is a Matter of Pride," by Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times, 29 May 2005, p. A1.

Here's the gist:

From nuclear negotiators to student dissidents, from bazaar merchants to turbaned mullahs, Iranians agree: the right to develop nuclear power is a point of national pride.

"For a country to have nuclear energy means that it has made progress in all other fields as well, so other countries have to respect its technology," said Nilufar, 29, a graduate student in energy management at the prestigious Sharif Industrial University.

We should want a proud Iranian people who are ever more demanding of national achievement, but all we get when we focus on the WMD fight with Tehran is a rallying point for the repressive regime. In this dialogue, the mullahs play us like a piano, with the upshot being that America makes no use of Iran's potential to become a regional security pillaróan outcome that must inevitably occur if real and lasting peace and stability is to come to the region, triggering its broadband economic connectivity to the global economy.

The Iran team in The New Map Game basically played this strategy, always trying to keep their eye on the prize of becoming the region's gateway to larger economic connectivity with the outside world. It didn't do very well, relying as it did so much on its oil exports to win it diplomatic points while remaining essentially intransigent on the nuke issue. Judging by this article, I would say we got some awfully realistic scenario play on Iran in our game.