It could make a big difference

摘要

As pictured by its leaders, Iran is strid-ing from strength to strength. The Islamic Revolution that 30 years ago toppled the shah continues to defy the country's foes, uplift its people and uphold its founding principles. Not only has it made big strides in nuclear technology. Last month it further confounded naysayers by launching a sophisticated rocket bearing its very own small satellite, Safir Omid, or Ambassador Hope, into orbit. Iran must now, declared its ebullient president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, be ranked a superpower.rnA text message that flashed onto Iranian mobile phones soon after the space shot suggested a different narrative. "First finding from Omid: earth is round!" read the lighthearted gibe at what many Iranians stubbornly bemoan as the provincial backwardness of their rulers. The revolution may have brought gains in public health, education and rural electrification, among other things.