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Iran Won't Stop until It Has a Nuclear Weapon
(Wall Street Journal) Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh - The Islamic Republic of Iran is led by an ardent ideological regime whose leaders speak incessantly about the cabal of Zionists and Jews who control America and plot against the Islamic revolution. Iran won't try to join a global community that is designed and run by its enemies. Ayatollah Khamenei hasn't spent billions and endured sanctions only to get close to a nuclear weapon. They will build the bomb as soon as they can and justify it afterward. To counter the West, building armies, armadas and air forces is expensive and requires too much foreign input; relying on proxies is precarious. Hegemony on the cheap can come only from the atomic bomb. No force in history has proved more powerful than self-delusion. Khamenei believes he is on the cusp of getting even. Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former Iran targets officer in the CIA, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Ray Takeyh is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.