Steven,

I agree with what you write.

However,why did Iran seek to develop nuclear weapons in the first place? The only reason I can see is that they wish to dominate the Islamic Middle East.

Hi Danielle

Iran has a nuclear armed strategic rival called Pakistan, allied with another strategic rival called Saudi Arabia, to its south. It also used to have Saddam Hussein to its west. As the world discovered in 1991 Saddam was very much in the business of acquiring nukes.

Iran exists in a dangerous neighbourhood. If I were the big chief in Iran I too might want nukes purely as a defensive measure.

Whatever else you want to say about nukes they are the great equaliser. Once a country has nukes it has to be taken seriously. Look at that broken, bankrupt starving country called North Korea.

There is a certain irony here. The Iranians acquired some of their nuclear technology from the AQ Khan network based in Pakistan as did Gaddaffi. I wonder whether we shall ever learn the full story of AQ Khan.

Of course once they have acquired nukes the Iranian mullahs will probably use them to throw their weight around. My guess is that the program has acquired a life of its own and the prestige of the mullahs depends on bringing it to fruition.

And here is the trouble. Once the rival you fear acquires nukes you have no choice; you have to go down that path as well. As Iran goes so will Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Before you know it you will have a fully nuclearised Middle-East which will increase exponentially the risk of an accidental nuclear war.

As Wikileaks showed, the Saudis have been begging the Americans to destroy Iran's nuclear program. Obama's understandable reluctance to do so may have grave consequences.

I am very glad that I am neither the prime minister of Israel nor the president of the United States. Both individuals are going to have to make some difficult choices soon

Thank you Steven,

You have enlightened me.

Maybe this comment thread should be called "The Endless Meme".

Note how the comments studiously avoid mentioning that Iran has always been an avowed opponent of nuclear weapons, not only in the Middle East but also across the globe.

Note how the comments studiously feign ignorance of the meeting of the Non Aligned nations with respect to Israel's stockpile of nukes.

More here:

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/08/30-4

But I suppose if we all sing kumbaya loud enough, no-one else will be able to hear what is actually going on.

..... sorry, it won't work.

Steven and Danielle,

Comments like “if Iran does deploy nukes, which seems inevitable” (Steven), and “why did Iran seek to develop nuclear weapons in the first place?” (Danielle) are completely unfounded.

Firstly, there is no ‘proof of intent’ that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

Secondly, they can only “deploy nukes” if they have them – which they don’t.

Thinking like this is scarily reminiscent of the months leading up to the Iraq invasion and the West’s insistence that Iraq had WMD.

The US has stated, via it’s top military officer, Gen. Martin Dempsey, that “intelligence does not provide proof of intent”. They do not want a repeat of Iraq.

What Iran has called for is a unilateral nuclear disarmament across the Middle East, and this could prove troublesome for Israel.

Iran will not make the first move. That leaves Israel out on a limb. Having come up short on support from the US, Netanyahu now needs to decide if saving face is more important than conceding this particular battle of words to Iran. This puts him in a difficult position and makes him a very dangerous man.

Israel faced a similar problem in 1981 against Iraq and took matters into its own hands. Its punishment? Vocal world condemnation and a rap on the knuckles. But sentiments about Israel are not what they were 30 years ago and Israel knows that it cannot risk a go-it-alone attack this time, without the sanction of either the US or the UN.

Either way, until there is absolute proof that Iran intends to enrich their uranium stockpile to the 90% level required for weapons grade material, Israel and the US stand on very shaky ground.