re: #300 transient

Two Iranian presidents, Ahmadinejad and Rafsanjani, have publicly stated that Iran could absorb nuclear retaliation. One nuke would essentially destroy Israel, but even half a dozen nukes would probably not annihilate Iran. They seem to feel it would be worth it.

Or it could be politically motivated to make such a statement, because it would probably not be popular for an Iranian president to say “Yep, we’d be hosed! Screwed!” Bravado is popular, even if it’s not true.

Also, the word “absorb”. Would their government survive retaliation?