Iranian Nuclear site explosion?

[snoopy369]

See, I think that's the main problem - there doesn't seem to be any incentive for diplomacy because both sides appear to want only the extreme and are unwilling to compromise. I think some of that arises from the power imbalance, combined with the intra-Arab/Islamic difficulties (as Plato noted, it's not like it's all-for-one one-for-all there). That's one of the first things we learn in international relations studies - conflict arises from power imbalances. Correct the power imbalance, and you have the beginnings of the possibility of a diplomatic solution.

I'd note that I'm not all for an Iranian nuclear state - I am just stating that I don't think it's the end of the world. I think there are better ways to accomplish this, also; but the thing that is _not_ going to work is alienating Iran. They're too powerful and stable of a state to just go away, North Korea style. Treat them (and the Palestinians, perhaps) like big kids, and perhaps we'll get somewhere.

[DinoDoc]

DD, who would they race with? That's the nice thing about nukes, you don't need terribly many these days. 50 or so would be enough for Iran, and Israel already has plenty (plus the US).

Prince Hints Saudi Arabia May Join Nuclear Arms Race

[Dinner]

I'm pretty sure if Iran got nukes then at least Saudi Arabia would feel the need to have a few nukes. Those two countries hate each other.

Damn it, DD beat me to it by ~40 minutes.

[regexcellent]

Saudi Arabia has made clear in no uncertain terms that if Iran got nukes it would try to get nukes as well. Iran getting nukes is the stepping stone to a Middle Eastern nuclear proliferation and arms race, which is really quite terrifying.

[Dinner]

The source is clearly questionable but then again it's not like Iran would ever tell the truth if they had an accident in one of their enrichment facilities.

[dannubis]

Yes, they would. They would blame the Jews.

[Dr Strangelove]

Isn't Saudi Arabia still the source for the majority of the funding of al-Qaeda and its spin offs? While perhaps not state sponsored perhaps Saudi Arabia is really the world's biggest sponsor of terrorism.

[PLATO]

Isn't Saudi Arabia still the source for the majority of the funding of al-Qaeda and its spin offs? While perhaps not state sponsored perhaps Saudi Arabia is really the world's biggest sponsor of terrorism.

I think that may be correct. I look at it as the difference between "wholesale" and "retail". While clearly the Saudi's have no objection to the spreading of Wahhabism through whatever means, they are very precise in making sure that there is no "state sponsorship" of the terrorist activities that seem prevalent in this. The Iranians, otoh, have institutionalized their sponsorship of terrorism. In the context of nuclear armed states this is , to me, a very important distinction.

[Dinner]

The lack of any new information in the last four days would seem to imply there is nothing left to report. I'm going to go with there probably was not an explosion and this is a rare case of Iran telling the truth.