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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1761524,00.html
Iran: Galloping Towards a Nuclear Bomb
(Guardian-UK) Jonathan Freedland - Tehran officials, from the president down, bellow their nuclear efforts from the rooftops; on Monday an Iranian official posed with a vial of uranium gas, to confirm his boast that enrichment had occurred. True, the Iranians claim that all this work is merely in pursuit of civilian nuclear power. But it's hard to believe that a country drowning in oil is running short of energy. It is surely relevant that Iran is led by a man who cannot let a week go by without issuing an annihilationist threat to one of his regional neighbors. An alarming picture is forming of a state galloping towards a nuclear bomb, led by a messianist bent on destroying a nearby nation. Undenied, too, are Iran's links with terrorist organizations beyond its borders. In addition, a nuclear Iran would immediately trigger a rapid Middle Eastern arms race. Saudi Arabia would be quickest off the blocks, with Egypt and Turkey not far behind. If that kind of nuclear free-for-all ensued, then countries that have historically held back would suddenly reconsider their options, among them even unlikely players such as Japan, Brazil, and Germany.