But Russia will back up Iran, which will then pull the EU into a war, brining in china to help russia, and then... oh noez; WW3

No... Russia will protect its interests but it is not suicidal.

It has a financial interest in ensuring the continuation of Iran as it is today. It will use every diplomatic option it has available and will make a variety of military threats but that is where it will end.

Russia will not go to war over Iran... Russia's goal is stability in the region. Russia cannot fight a war against America, not even with China's help. Yes both have nukes, yes both have the ability to deal significant damage to the US mainland but it would be at a cost of each Russia and China becoming a radioactive parking lot from border to border and shore to shore. Furthermore, the cost to America would be too great as well… War between NATO and Russia/China will not happen in the near future.

Ten or more years from now that could be different though.

As far as a war with Iran, America does have the ability to swiftly win a war even without Nuclear weapons.

I don’t think it would make sense to overthrow the regime in Iran and put boots on the ground like we did in Iraq.

It would make sense to do what we did to Iraq in the Gulf war though.

I can see destroying Iran’s nuclear program, weapons programs, air force, navy, radar and intelligence, ground-to-air, and command and control capabilities but leaving the existing regime in place and simply keeping the country pinned down like we did to Iraq in the Gulf war.

Iran is a major threat not only to the USA and Israel but also to many of its Arab neighbors. By keeping Iran pinned down, it would give the USA a reason to stay in the region for a long time, which would allow us to have our hand in shaping the development of the region in a way that is beneficial to the USA and it’s allies. If we don’t shape it to our benefit then China and Russia will shape it to their benefit

This is chess… not checkers.

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All information available to me is public information that can easily be obtained on the internet or otherwise by paying attention to what is going on in the world around us.

“At some stage we must expect that Iran will acquire the capacity to enrich uranium on the scale required for a weapons programme,”

So, in other words, they have enough uranium enrichment capacity to potentially make enough very highly enriched uranium for a bomb, if they chose to do that, and actually turn their efforts to making a bomb.

Now, under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, nations have the right to use nuclear fuels, and to enrich uranium, and so forth, for peaceful use - and Iran has got every right, under international law, to continue doing what it is doing now - although it would certainly be better if they were more open and transparent with IAEA.

North Korea actually tried to test a nuclear weapon - it didn't work, but still, they actually tried to build and test a nuclear weapon - a far, far more provocative and concerning act than anything Iran has ever done. Yet, in North Korea, we've still been able to resolve the situation, with negotiations and talks and international cooperation, without any need for bombing anybody, and that's what I would like to see in Iran.