No!!! war is israel's destruction. Israel will be a loser for taking a blunt action against Iran. and it is speculative that the deal with the Hamas and peace talks with Hezbollah will dash down to the ground. A massive fallout will start in Middle east that is sitting on the brink of a destruction if such an endeavor will take place. And above all this can unite all the Arabs against Iran, and that will lead to total destruction of Israel, making Ahmadnezad's dream of wiping israel off the map for ever.

yes iran is provoking a war. they are behaving like mad bulls caring nothing about their looses. they have defied international community for ceasing the nuclear program. they have given plucked hen whatsoever to sanctions only because they have massive natural sources. but war once provoked in the middle east will end everything. But alas the world power are applying diplomacy to persuade iran only because it will open a big market for their weapons.

enough just stop this nonsense now. even if it is true it doesn't make a good sense either. it has long been we are hearing the war rhetoric. Attack on iran has been "imminent" for two years now! but where it is. This is nothing but nonsense. Nothing will come of this, just like nothing has come of scores of warnings and sanctions that have been posted imposed on Iran but they all are buried as lame.

Iran is provoking a war. there is no doubt. it is giving push to a nuclear race that will end in nothing bur destruction. on the other it is not ready to abandon its nuclear program, even when it was offered with the considerable incentives. If iran will be allowed to pursue its nuclear program, there will be may in the Mideast to pursue the same and world will be left with no argument to stop them doing that. First of them will be Israel, then Syria, Saudi Arabia…this will even lead to a destruction even bigger than one can anticipate if war breaks out between Israel and iran. So if this little destruction can save the bigger one, I don’t see any harm, do you?

Yes. Iran has repeatedly declared that it aims at total destruction of Israel. There can be no doubt about the purpose of the development of the bomb. Israel, as a country, has every right to defend itself from it - even if it means a pre-emptive attack. (Will any one opposing action by Israel speak the same words if it is his country that is threatened the same way?) Iran needs to refrain from its ”destroy Israel” agenda first and then stop the program to develop the bomb in the interest of every nation in the region.

Israel is not alone in the region to fear Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons. Arab countries are equally apprehensive, though Israel is vocal about Iran’s nuclear weapon program.

The questions Aneez have raised are valid ones. USA, the first to come into possession of nuclear weapons did it in competition with the Nazi Germany. It was a question of who does it first. That is, the one who failed to come out first would suffer at the hands of the other. Next, the Soviet Union that became a rival of the USA immediately after WW II pursued research and tested nuclear weapons.

The UK and France did it to defend themselves from the Soviet Union. China, which had inconvenient relations with the Soviet Union, also followed suit.

Now, a need to stop this proliferation was felt, and the NPT came into being in 1970.

Notably, India, Pakistan and Israel refused to sign this treaty. Iran is a signatory to the treaty, unlike these countries. North Korea signed and withdrew later and declared it was in possession of nuclear weapons and tested its own device in 2006. South Africa developed nuclear weapons and voluntarily disassembled them later.

The problem lies in selective application of the law signed by more than 180 countries.

Iran is a nation with a long and remarkable history. If other countries in Asia - notably Pakistan on the eastern borders of Iran - can possess nuclear weapons why not Iran?

But, in the larger interest of nations in the region it is advisable that Iran stops developing nuclear weapons and establish good relations with all countries including Israel, with which it has no territorial or any other disputes and the problem is only a political one.

Paulraj raises a relevant point. The NPT has been used selectively. India and Pakistan went nuclear nearly ten years ago, but only sanctions were slapped on them; most of which have been pulled back.

The reason Iran is being threatened with airstrikes is that it is making threatening noises on Israel. Ahmadinejad has openly said that once Iran gets its nuclear weapons it is going to bomb Israel. Israel has every reason to feel worried.

During the Kargil conflict Pakistan too had threatened to nuke India, but Pakistan was amenable to US pressure. Iran, in contrast, is like a loose cannon. Russia and china refuse to use their influence on that country. They see Iran as a tool to needle the US.

The first sentence should read ”The questions Aneez has raised........”.