AND THE BEAT GOES ON - AT 10:07 A.M. ET:  Now the Iranians pile on, adding to the North Korean shock:

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday rejected a Western proposal for it to "freeze" its nuclear work in return for no new sanctions and ruled out any talks with major powers on the issue.

The comments by the conservative president, who is seeking re-election in a June 12 presidential vote, are likely to further disappoint the U.S. administration of President Barack Obama, which is seeking to engage Iran diplomatically.

The United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain said in April they would invite Iran to a meeting to try and find a diplomatic solution to the nuclear row.

COMMENT:  Looks like we will have Mahmoud to kick around again.  He's heading for victory, and this is his policy.  It's also the policy of the bigger shots in Iran, who control what comes out of the Mahmoud mouth.

We've said before at Urgent Agenda that the second half of 2009 will be very, very interesting.  The North Koreans and Iranians have now made that look like an understatement.

Welcome to reality, Mr. President.

May 25, 2009