Dane,
I agree that an Iranian bomb would probably make the middle east safer. If it wasn't for the nuclear arms of the US and USSR then there would almost certainly have been a sequel to WWII. No nuclear armed nation has ever faced invasion. As much as the threat of nuclear war is a terrible thing to live under, it is certainly an effective deterrent to actual war. Better still would be a world where we no longer settled our differences by killing each other. Unfortunately, we don't seem to have reached that level of maturity yet, and we in the west (despite our claims of being peace loving) are the worst offenders.

Israel has 300 nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them.Israel is practising genocide on the Palistinians.Iran has yet to develop one nuke.The USA and NATO have invaded 6 countries.How many has Iran invaded? It is all about oil and expansion of Western Imperialism.How many countries has China invaded?

Even Zbigniew Brzezinski says that invading Iran will be a disaster.Invade Iran and expect WW3.

Firstly its interesting the author who has been or still is funded by the Iranian Government is free to present the Iranian line in democratic America. A scholar would be tortured, imprisoned and perhaps hung if he presented the US-Western line in Iran.

Secondly one wonders why Iran has produced a whole generation of Shahab Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles whose range has been extended to encompass Israel. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahab-3 and http://www.missilethreat.com/missilesoftheworld/id.190/missile_detail.asp.

Iran's Shahab 3 Missile are so inaccurate that they are only effective against cities (defenceless civilians) not military targets. The lack of accuracy of Iran's long range missiles also increases the likelihood that they are, or will be, armed with unconventional warheads.

"Unconventional" means:

- radiological - spreading highly radioactive particles by conventional explosion over a wide area,

- biological (germ warfare) eg. anthrax

- chemical warheads - eg. nerve gas, and /or

- nuclear.

The peaceful picture of Iran that this Iranian author paints is at variance with Iran's routine torture and killing of peaceful protesters.

Plantagenet you are spot on!
Check out this comprehensive list on the website

http://www.iranhumanrights.org/

Thanks Bempec

Here's more about life and the prospectt of religious execution in Iran, from Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/09/30/iran-christian-pastor-faces-execution-apostasy :

Iran: Christian Pastor Faces Execution for ‘Apostasy’

September 30, 2011

"Iranian authorities should immediately free pastor Yousef Nadarkhani and drop all charges against him, Human Rights Watch said today. Nadarkhani, who has been charged with apostasy and is in Rasht prison in northern Iran, faces possible execution.

Iran’s judiciary claims that Nadarkhani, 33, who was born to a Muslim family, is an apostate due to his adoption of Christianity at age 19. Authorities summoned him to an appeals court on September 25, 2011, said his lawyer, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah. Court officials told him that he had three opportunities to renounce his faith and embrace Islam.

"...Security forces initially arrested Nadarkhani in October 2009. In November 2010, a lower court sentenced Nadarkhani to death for “apostasy from Islam,” despite the fact that no such crime exists under Iran’s penal code...."

And the torture and killing goes on in Iran. "Honour" killing of women is usually considered justifiable homicide - so court penalties for the killers (who are almost always male) are avoided...

How can you justify a nuclear weapon in the hands of an idiot. Some-one that says Israel should be enialated. Can you live under that sort of garble. I think we are best living with Arabia, rather than Iran.