https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2021/04/irans_goals.html
What if Iran doesn’t actually plan to use a nuclear weapon?
What if Iran wants, as various of its officials have said over the years, to prevent being toppled the way Saddam Hussein was, or Moammar Gaddafi or Hosni Mubarak? To prevent a 20-year U.S.-led invasion like that of Afghanistan? Nuclear-armed North Korea, not to mention Russia and China, have received far more forbearance from the U.S. than the leaders of Iraq, Libya, and Egypt, or the Afghan people. Yes, all things considered, its better to be a nuclear-capable Iran than not.
Iran might be willing to accept delays in the program in exchange for time, space, and money to pursue its other long-term goals. We can’t know that for certain, which makes pressure and a tight negotiating posture essential for the U.S. and its allies, and makes the ongoing, effective sabotage at nuclear-related facilities a well executed blessing.
The time to parse Iran’s non–nuclear weapons goals is now, before making concessions to Tehran.
Biden and Obama administration officials and their media supporters appear to regard a return to the JCPOA (the “Iran deal”), or even an extended and more restrictive JCPOA, as the solution to the problem of Iran. But it is not. Regardless of the outcome of the Vienna talks, the problems that make Tehran a threat to peaceful order at home and abroad will remain and likely be exacerbated.
This calls into question the proposition that Iran needs protection — nuclear or not — from the U.S. and Israel. You don’t need nuclear protection if you plan to be a civilized country. On the other hand, if you are planning to do something aggressive, hegemonic, deadly, and illegal, nuclear protection from the consequences seems wise.
Tehran’s goals include hegemony in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea; proxy forces controlling Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon (the “Shiite Crescent”); Shiite supremacism across the Muslim world; diminution of U.S. power and prestige in the region; and ultimately, the destruction of Israel, which stands in the way of the other goals.
Iran is fairly far along. The “Crescent” not only provides close access to Israel, but also spreads across the northern borders of two key Sunni adversaries — Saudi Arabia, guardian of Mecca and Medina, which the mullahs covet, and Jordan. It splits historic foe Sunni Turkey from the other Sunni Middle East states. Only Israel keeps Iran from digging in deeper, and Israel was helped by the reduction in available cash for Iran by President Trump’s “maximum pressure” regime.
