As Dr Trita Parsi, the Iran hand at Johns Hopkins University and author of Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel and the United States argues, why would Iran do something so foolish as this and that too in New Delhi? It's an insult to the Iranian intelligence.
India is, after China, Iran's biggest trading partner and importer of Iranian oil. Besides, the two have shared a quiet partnership since the Russians left Afghanistan. It has even survived the Indian vote against Iran at the IAEA. Incidentally, Thailand is another major trading partner of the Islamic republic. So why would the Iranians choose the distant tourist paradise to settle scores with the Israelis, hurting their own interests?
The detention of an Iranian, who blew up his legs while handling the explosives, proves nothing. It's hardly a secret the Israelis and Americans have been using the Mujahideen-e-Khalq militants against Iran. As the West turns up the heat on Iran by way of economic sanctions, a trade blockade and crippling of its banks, coupled with the rising chatter of coming war, the region has been on a razor's edge for months now. All that is needed is a tiny spark to blow it all up. A minor skirmish here, a misunderstanding there or a perfect false flag in distant lands could prove excuse enough for a full-blown conflagration with catastrophic consequences.
That moment seems to have arrived with the incidents in India, Georgia and Thailand. Israel is desperately looking for a pretext to punish Iran. With the arrival of US election season and Europe being preoccupied with its economic mess, perhaps there cannot be a better time to do so. But it's easier said than done. Israel cannot do so on its own without US help. If it was doable, Israel would have done it by now. Iran is not Iraq.
Even though a demonstration of the capacity doesn't mean willingness, would you be terribly surprised if Tehran indeed goes for nukes? Given Israel's terrorising of the region over the past six decades and the West's hegemonic wars, it's actually tempting and makes sense to go for the comforting reassurance that nuclear weapons seem to provide.
More to the point, what right does Israel — and other world powers — have to lord over their nuclear arsenal while the rest of the world has to submit itself to IAEA scrutiny? If the international community is indeed serious about a nuke-free world, it has to first address this nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty duplicity. Nuclear weapons are a clear and present danger to the Middle East and the world, no matter who owns them.
