Who Is Iran's Real Nuclear Target?

We've all heard how Israel is the main target of a potenial nuclear attack--whether for its own sake or as a way to pressure the US. But what if Israel is not the main target? According to the Chicago Tribune, the Arab world may be beginning to think that they may be Iran's main target.

...In a recent opinion piece titled "For These Reasons We Fear Iran" in the pan-Arabic daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, the director of Al-Arabiya TV, Abd al-Rahman al-Rashed, argued that the most likely target of Iran's nuclear weapons is the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf.

"It is incomprehensible that Iran will bomb Israel, which has a shield of missiles, tremendous firepower and nuclear weapons artillery sufficient to eradicate every city in Iran," he wrote. "This means that if this destructive weapon is used, the only option for a target is the Arab Gulf."

At the Dayan Center, Bengio said she wouldn't be surprised if Arab countries at this moment are trying to persuade Washington to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. She acknowledged that an American attack would produce a sharp reaction from the so-called Arab street. But she thinks Arab regimes believe they can handle the unrest, and that they would take that chance rather than see Iran continue to build political, military and ideological influence in the Arab back yard.

In case the U.S. does not take action, Sunni Arab nations are making contingency plans. Saudi Arabia has engaged in a huge military shopping spree, spending billions on American Black Hawk helicopters and armored vehicles, and negotiating billions more in purchases from France and Britain.

Egypt recently announced its intentions to pursue nuclear energy, a decision echoing Iran's claim that its nuclear program seeks only to produce electricity.

The conflict in Lebanon was a wake-up call to many Arab countries about the danger they could face from the "Shiite Axis," according to published comments by Martin Indyk, director of the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at The Brookings Institution and a former U.S. ambassador to Israel.

In the short term, the public voice of Arab politics will continue to castigate Israel for its treatment of Palestinians. Still, as Iran continues to strut its newfound influence on the international stage, and as its militias continue to boast of their great arsenals and ideological fervor, the regional realignment will continue to take shape. A not-so-secret meeting between an Israeli prime minister and Saudi officials looks like one of the first steps toward that transformation.

Keep in mind that according to Mearsheimer and Walt, the Israel Lobby has made the US unneccesarily antagonistic to the interests of the one billion Moslems in the world in general, and to Iran in particular.

What if Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Iran left to its own interests, and Palestinians unable to govern themselves are not in the best interests of those 1 billion Moslems in general and the Arab World in particular?

Technorati Tag: Israel and Iran and Middle East.