Why does one country claim the right to possess nuclear weapons and then say another does not?

Because most people are snobs and because The United States wants to hold on to its "Empire". Both governments in Iran and The United States are not to be trusted. One government is run by Muslim fanatics while the other is controlled by Christian fanatics ... pick your poison ...

No country should have a right to possess nuclear weapons. Nuclear power should be used just for the peaceful means to create more energy for the hungry world, which still needs to rely on the 'dirty coal' which causes the global warming.

We should all stop thinking about weapons, start to think about building a better and safe world.

Imagine it as a global school playground. The kid who’s the biggest bully will create a gang around him and try to stop rival gangs from being a threat. Politics is only human nature, dressed up as something more intellectual.

Same reason that governments claim the right to have arms and then say their citizens do not. Power.

I have to agree with the first half of Mr Happy's response: most people are snobs.....the US wants to hold onto it's empire.

Disagree with the statement that this country is controlled by 'Christian fanatics'. If that was so there wouldn't be so many baby killings...this country's headed more towards embracing Islam. Crap, remember when the trade center got hit...Oprah went on national tv and starts reading from the Kuran! Good grief. Like they (hollywood) what to "oh oh....it's not ALL bad, islam is good, these were some bad guys...we must embrace them, negotiate and understand...let's all be friends.." Have intelligence levels just dropped sharply? We got our butts kicked by a radical Islamic terroist group and these idiots want to promote it? No thanks, I'd rather cling to my guns, my Bible, and my Christianity. Oh, yes, I know that Christian people go off the deep end like bombing abortion clinics but crap, at least the doctrine doesn't encourage violence and 'death to infadels'.

Nobody should have nuclear weapons, only nuclear power which needs to be pursued ardently.

One more thing, the ozone is shrinking, the proof is in the pudding. Whether we are the direct cause or mother nature is not the point. It is shrinking and we need to take care of our environment.

Nuclear power is not, that much, better than "dirty coal", first of all. Second of all, global warming is a farce. The Earth goes through natural stages of change. The climate has been changing all over the Earth for billions of years. Not to say that we shouldn't take care of our environment, but don't come up with false reasons as to why we should. If there is "global warming", why did Penn State University have the earliest snowfall ever this year?

As to the original question, most (and i mean most) of the countries that have nuclear weapons, can be trusted not to randomly use them. The United States, as only one example, does not have a strong intent to rid the world of a specific race or religious following.