Iranian Options With Their Nuclear Bomb
Iran's President Ahmadinejad may be a lunatic with power, or a sane man with an agenda, but I suspect he has explored the options Iran has once they acquire the bomb, which they will. They will because this all event is a repeat of 1939-40.
How so?
After World War 1 (1918) the Germans were forced to dismantle their military completely down to an army that poses no threat. However, by the 1930s, they rearmed, retrained, many times in secret and under arguments that it was for peaceful purposes. They bought western technology and when Hitler came to power, he began in earnest, the rearming. The German leaders were shocked that France and Britain allowed this. They were laughing secretly because as they spoke of peaceful coexistence, they built their war machine. Worse, Hitler had had his book, Mein Kampf, published in 1933. It detailed what his dreams were and hoped to achieved, yet, no one in the West bothered to take it seriously. The Allied nations that defeated Germany in WW1, allowed it all to happen. Hitler could've been stopped long before 1940. Instead, France and Britain tried in vain and stupidity, to appease Hitler with various peace offerings hoping to contain him. Hitler gladly accepted with smiles and bought more time to build his near invincible army that outclassed all others. In 1938, Czechoslovakia fell to Hitler, in 1939, Poland fell to Hitler. Yet, the West did nothing but try to make peace with Hitler.
Iran is on the same course and Ahmadinejad is the driver. The script is the same. The West has few options but to brace for the worse. Once Iran secures its first nuclear bomb, even if weak, they could drop it on Israel. Iran's leaders know that such an event will cause a massive retaliation, they could lose 15 million, but in their minds, that is a small price as the former president Rafsanjani has said.
They could give the bomb to their surrogates, the Hezbollah or Hamas. They could sell some of the material to al-Qaeda through numerous channels, official or unofficial. They could simply use the bomb to threaten, thereby, achieving their political aims within the reason. They would never have to use it, if fear of it was enough. And it is. It could also cause many in a country or area to flee under the threat. Think Iran threatens to use it against the oil fields of Saudi Arabia, many would flee, disrupting oil production and shipments. They could taunt Israel to attack first, which if it did, might just cause the whole region in a major war. Arab nations might take advantage and attack.
None of the future looks positive when Iran does get the bomb.