> I expect US and Israeli strategic thinking is now focused on how to live
> with a nuclear-armed Iran within the framework of a Middle East doctrine
> of Mutual Assured Destruction. The template is the nuclear stalemate
between
> the US and the USSR, which was also preceded by much public threatening of
> a US first strike against the Soviets in the early 50's. It presently
> defines the standoff between India and Pakistan and between the US and it's
> Asian allies and North Korea.
Given the uneasy relations between Sunni Arab countries in the Gulf and Iran, Israel is probably also worried that a nuclear Iran will convince other countries in the region to start nuclear weapons programs.