Restoring Regional Balance in the Middle East: A Nuclear Test is Iran’s Last-Resort Maneuver

In Al-Tabari’s History, he narrates on the authorities of Abd al-Rahmān bin Mahdi (d. 198 A.H.) and Hammād ibn Salamah (d. 167 A.H.) that “’Umar ibn al-Khattāb consulted with Hurmuzān on whether to start [a conquest] with Persia or Azerbaijan or Aṣbahān. He said: ‘Persia and Azerbaijan are the wings, and Aṣbahān is the head. If you cut one wing, the other will rise, but both wings will fall if you cut the head. So, start with the head.”i

In his “Clash of Civilizations,” Samuel Huntington states that the United States does not wage war against nuclear nations. Today’s Iran, the leader of the Shi‘ite coalition in the Middle East, has had its wings nearly cut: its allies in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen – namely Hezbollah and Hamas – have been significantly weakened. Simultaneously, Israel is awaiting the opportunity to pounce at its head. Iran’s last resort to deter an attack against it, following Huntington’s axiom, is the swift and public production and testing of a nuclear weapon.