An Israeli or American attack on Iranian nuclear facilities would make it more, not less, likely that the Iranian regime would decide to produce and deploy nuclear weapons. Such an attack would also make it more, not less, difficult to contain Iranian influence.

The best -- and, at this point, almost the only -- concrete thing Washington can do to advance democracy in Iran is to support those transitions already underway in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and, particularly, Syria.

This monograph attempts to fill that gap by providing a midterm strategy for dealing with Iran that neither begins nor ends at the point at which Tehran acquires a nuclear weapon capability.

Testimony presented before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs.

Testimony presented before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs.

In his comments these days, Netanyahu is undermining the chance of crafting a credible deterrent policy against a future nuclear Iran.

Some of the nuclear facilities in Iran, especially those that are critical for the continuation of its nuclear program activities, are located deep below the surface and protected by reinforced concrete fortifications. This makes the task of destroying them almost completely impossible.

In Jerusalem, as always, any mention of Israeli nuclear weapons produces a Pavlovian response. No, no, no - there's nothing to talk about and nobody to talk to.

Israel's policy makers now face a complicated dilemma regarding Iran's nuclear program: Should they work on the assumption that mutual deterrence of the Cold War variety is applicable to the Iranian situation?

In light of a 2011 report from the IAEA, Pedatzur was asked for his assessment of the current situation.

The IAF can bomb Iran, he must tell the government, but ultimately the operation will not destroy the Iranian nuclear program, at best it can delay it.

The key to strategic stability in a nuclear Middle East lies in the realization and acceptance by decision makers in Jerusalem and Tehran that there is no point to using nuclear weapons—if both sides have it.