KR/Hannah Allam: Iran's weapons pose little threat but are political boon

[Rose Siding]

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran probably couldn't mount much of a defense against a U.S. air attack on its nuclear sites, but such action would likely rally moderate Iranians around their ultra-conservative leaders and strengthen Iranian resolve to resist efforts to make it give up its nuclear program, Iranian and Western analysts here believe.
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Military utility aside, the value of Iran's new weapons lies largely in what they might do for Iranian national morale. Military analysts here, as well as in Washington and Moscow, say Tehran's new hardware is unreliable and ineffective. In addition, the Iranian air force is threadbare and its anti-air defenses are limited and antique. Its navy, even with a new torpedo unveiled last week that supposedly travels at speeds in excess of 200 mph underwater, would be no match for the 27 U.S. warships based in and around the Persian Gulf.

The one bright spot, from the Iranian perspective, is the nation's army, whose sheer size would make an Iraq-style invasion, in the opinion of analysts, all but impossible. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is believed to have millions of troops at his disposal from the military, the elite Revolutionary Guard corps and the vast Basij paramilitary.
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"For propaganda purposes, they're going to want to take all the local journalists round to the hospital or school that's been hit," said one Tehran-based Western diplomat.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/14304120.htm

Yeah, that's propaganda: "the hospital or school that's been hit"

Almost like a promise from a Western diplomat.