Shutdown:
I believe that a government shutdown is a selfish thing for the senate to do. Many of the people who work in the Senate live very comfortably, it doesn't matter to them if they lose their pay for three weeks. However, many state employees are losing a lot of money and the economy will also take a major hit. I think that the healthcare policy should not have forced the government to shutdown.
Iran:
I believe that Iran is faking friendliness for the US. I believe that they want sympathy from the rest of the world, making themselves look like the good guys. Iran wants to look like they want to be friends with the US, making it more difficult for the US to attack Iran and take their nuclear weapons without having a media disaster.