AND AGAIN - AT 7:45 A.M. ET:  As if to emphasize its defiance, Iran has now fired a second set of missiles in a weekend.  These, though, are more ominous than the first group, as The New York Times reports:

Locked in a deepening dispute with the United States and its allies over its nuclear program, Iran was reported Monday to have test-fired long-range missiles capable of striking Israel and American bases in the Persian Gulf in what seemed a show of force.

The reported tests of the Shahab-3 and Sejil missiles by the Revolutionary Guards were not the first conducted by Iran, but they came at a time of high tension, days after President Obama and the leaders of France and Britain used the disclosure of a previously secret nuclear plant in Iran to threaten Tehran with a stronger response, including harsher economic sanctions.

And...

There was no indication whether the testing of long-range missiles — often taken in the west as a sign of potential hostile intent by Iran — was timed to coincide with the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

Oh, come on.  Of course it was.  The Iranians are masters of symbolism.  Today is Yom Kippur, so Iran tests a missile capable of hitting the Jewish state, eventually with nuclear weapons.  Not a coincidence. 

And the Russian reaction?  From Reuters:

A Russian Foreign Ministry source told Interfax news agency on Monday, however, that Russia was urging restraint from the international community in reaction to the Iranian missile launches.

"We should not give way to emotions now," the source said. "We should try to calm down and the main thing is to launch a productive negotiations process [with Iran]."

Yup.  Obama sure got Moscow to toughen up over Iran.  Just read the steel in that statement.

It's sickening.

September 28, 2009