re: #205 Killgore Trout

1980 sounds about right. Israel is the most concerned about Iranian nukes but I’m not sure they’re at the top of the target list. If Saddam were still in power I would guess Iran would be more likely to use nukes on Iraq than anywhere else. Iran does have aspirations to expand their influence in the region and simply having nukes, not necessarily using them, would help them accomplish that. The Saudis are getting nervous too.
I seriously doubt the Iranians give a shit about the Palestinians and if push came to shove I think they’d be considered acceptable collateral damage by the Mullahs. I even have serious doubts if Palestinian leadership would complain much about getting nuked if it means the Israelis got nuked too. Fatah might complain a bit but I doubt Hamas would mind much.

I still just don’t see it. They may have aspirations, but they’re Shia and are FAR outnumbered by Sunnis, the vast majority of whom would be unlikely to accept them as religious leaders because of theological differences. To my knowledge, in the history of Islam there has never been a Shia caliphate that ruled over a Sunni majority.

It would sort of be like suddenly telling the world’s Protestants, “Okay, y’all are gonna do what the Pope says from now on—he’s your new leader.”