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Iran Cannot Be Allowed to Go Nuclear

Next president must prevent proliferation, no matter the cost

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 23, 2008 12:04 PM CDT

(Newser) – The US must prevent Iran from going nuclear, even if it means military intervention, write Daniel Coats and Charles Robb, heads of a bipartisan think tank on the issue. “An Islamic Republic of Iran with nuclear weapons capability would be strategically untenable,” they argue. Even if Iran doesn’t use its arsenal, simply having one would magnify its influence in the region.

The group dismisses international inspections or joint ownership of enrichment facilities as insufficient to ensure that Iran stays clean. And while a diplomatic solution is possible, negotiations must come from a position of strength. So while military intervention should “remain an option of last resort”—since it would invite terrorist reprisals and heighten unrest in the region—the next president should “begin building up military assets in the region from day one.”

[Images (2)]

[Quotes (2)]

A military exhibition displays a Revolutionary Guard missile, which it claims is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching Europe or Israel, under a picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (AP photo/Hasan Sarbakhshian)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivers a speech in a military parade in this file photo. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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Simply obtaining the ability to quickly assemble a nuclear weapon would effectively give Iran a nuclear deterrent and drastically multiply its influence. - Daniel Coats and Charles Robb

The US military is capable of launching a devastating strike on Iran's nuclear and military infrastructure — probably with more decisive results than the Iranian leadership realizes. - Daniel Coats and Charles Robb

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Iran Cannot Be Allowed to Go Nuclear