Amb. Chas Freeman: Iran Will Build Nuclear Weapons

Chas thinks that Iran is about to build nuclear weapons if it has not done so already, and it will also acquire the kind of missiles North Korea could to deliver to them to hit the United States. The “hardliners” headed by the son of the martyred leader Mojtaba Khamenei who have long said that Iran needs nuclear weapon for deterrence as North Korea does are now in power. They will not even discuss nuclear issues until the US blockade is lifted and there is a general peace agreement on the Strait of Hormuz, which they will continue to control and regarding American bases in the region, which the US will have to remove. The GCC will fall apart as the Gulf countries each make their own arrangements with Iran, now that they see that the US cannot protect them. By the time all of this happens, I think it is likely that Iran will already have a nuclear deterrent, and this reality will be part of a new order in the region, in which Iran will be the dominant power. Iran will be backed to the hilt by Russia and China who both have powerful interests in the development of Iran as essential to the economic development of all of Asia. Chas’s analysis seems to me to be rather more likely than that of other analysts who seem to think that Iran would compromise on the nuclear issue if their other demands are met. John Mearsheimer has also said that building nuclear weapons is the rational policy for Iran.