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By Kyler Ong

The prospect of Iran being armed with the very similar type of WMD which almost brought the world to the brink of a nuclear war in 1962 begets the general propensity towards the prevention of turning such a terrifying prospect into reality. Yet, much to the disappointment of the “West” (notably Israel, US and Europe), dishing out harsher sanctions each time Iran fails to succumb to international pressure has not had the intended effect of dissuading it from its nuclear ambition. In fact, the more Iran feels that it is being stripped off its inherent right as a sovereign nation, and the more it feels vulnerable in the face of the “bullying alliance”; the more aggressive it will be (and has been) in its nuclear energy pursuit.  Even if Ayatollah Khamenei’s re-issue of the fatwa against acquisition of nuclear weapons is only a façade based on the doctrine of Taqiyah (“Islamic dissembling”), weapons or not, it is far more likely that Iran will use it for the purpose of improving its defensive capability, and not the offensive. This is exactly the very same reason why Israel, North Korea, India, Pakistan and even the former Soviet Union felt the need to go nuclear. In fact, as much as the West tries to convince itself not to believe this theory, history has beared witness to the fact that nuclear balance has always acted as deterrence. It will be no different for Iran.