Paranoia: It seems to be going around these days. When the sirens go off, you know it’s nothing personal. Just an ongoing, multi-billion rial attempt to kill a handful of Jews. And yet, when your little community shows up as a red pin smack in the middle of a clump of red siren-alert pins on the news chat, it’s hard not to feel they’re gunning straight for you.

The Iranians are paranoid – one of those “just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you” kind of situations. Okay, it’s true people who negotiate with the Americans tend to end up dead, so one can understand their reluctance to meet with American negotiators. But they have apparently gone off the deep end as far as irrational fears go, shutting down a chain of coffee houses, just because their take-away cups show an empty chair. That chair, they fear, might signify an insult to the new supreme leader, referring to the fact he has not been seen in public. Does the supreme leader (who is presumed injured or maybe really badly injured) truly........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)