Why is it OK for Israel to have nuclear weapons but not Iran?

Question

Ahmadinejad has been a vocal supporter of Iran's nuclear program, and has insisted that it is for peaceful purposes. He has repeatedly emphasized that building a nuclear bomb is not the policy of his government. He has said that such a policy is "illegal and against our religion."[76][77] He also added at a January 2006 conference in Tehran that a nation with "culture, logic and civilization" would not need nuclear weapons, and that countries that seek nuclear weapons are those which want to solve all problems by the use of force.[78]

In April 2006, Ahmadinejad announced that Iran had successfully refined uranium to a stage suitable for the nuclear fuel cycle. In a speech to students and academics in Mashhad, he was quoted as saying that Iran's conditions had changed completely as it had become a nuclear state and could talk to other states from that stand.[79] On April 13, 2006, Iranian news agency, IRNA, quoted Ahmadinejad as saying that the peaceful Iranian nuclear technology would not pose a threat to any party because "we want peace and stability and we will not cause injustice to anyone and at the same time we will not submit to injustice."[80]

Despite Ahmadinejad's vocal support for the program, the office of the Iranian president is not responsible for nuclear policy. It is instead set by the Supreme National Security Council. The council includes two representatives appointed by the Supreme Leader, military officials and members of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government. It reports directly to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons in 2005.[81]

Khamenei usually refrains from speaking in public, but has criticized Ahmadinejad's "personalization" of the nuclear issue.[82] However, sources close to the president have said the article comes from Rafsanjani.[83] Ahmadinejad vowed on February 23, 2008, that Iran will not be held back from developing its peaceful nuclear program, and said the "nuclear technology is ... the sort of technology that has been monopolized by a few countries".[84]

Answer 1

Because the USA says it's okay.  

What they say is law, don't you know that by now?  

Answer 2

Ahmadinejad's mistake was saying that Israel should be taken off the map.  I guarantee that he wishes that he could turn the clock back.

Answer 3

Because Israel doesn't want to wipe out an entire race like Iran does. Israel rightly wants to defend themselves. ♥ ∞

Answer 4

I don't recall Israel ever saying it wanted to wipe any nation off the face of the earth, and it could.

The whacko they call president in Iran has, and they can't. Just imagine how bold he would be if he had a Nuke.

Does that answer the question?

Answer 5

No matter how the West or how many people brag about Iran's nuclear ambitions it will happen. The world knows it, and everyone knows it. The same way the world did not want Pakistan have any but they did any how.  I am sure, no matter how long it takes or whether they like or not, Iran will acquire nuclear weapons one way or another. 60 years from or or even the next 10 years. It is not Iran losing their energy bragging or complaining, it is the West.  

Answer 6

You are hilarious. How about WW3? End of the world, etc,. etc. .....

  THAT's why Iran should NEVER have nuclear weapons. Israel has had them for years for protection. Not every Arab nation has promised to wipe Iran off the face of the earth like they threaten Israel.

  You are very funny though....you made me laugh!

Answer 7

Israel is more mature than those in Iran.

For starters Iran firmly believes that they have the right to completely annihilate the country of Israel. The fools actually believe it is their God given right to do so.

Israel has not thoughts of decimating an entire nation, they just want to be left alone and protected from the Arab states, the Muslim states, and the state of fear.

Iran on the other hand has publicly announced that they would destroy the Jews if they could.

Now ... do you really want to see such a powerful weapon in the hands of fanatics like that?

Answer 8

You ask a question about developing nuclear weapons, and then say "Iran will not be held back from developing its peaceful nuclear program."  Here is the problem - the development of weapons is, by definition, not a peaceful program.  There are peaceful uses of nuclear materials, for example, energy, science and medicine.  I am sure that a peaceful program could be developed in Iran, but, in order to do this, total accountability for the nuclear materials is required, to both your parliament and to other countries.  This is what happens in other countries that have peaceful nuclear programs.  And this second level of accountability seems to be what Iran has struggled to accept.  

Answer 9

I have heard it suggested that Israel has nuclear weapons. If they do, then they have never tested their designs. I don't believe Israel has a functional design unless it has been tested secretly by another nuclear power that claimed the test as their own. Not bloody likely!

Iran is closing in on the ability to make a dirty nuclear bomb. Atomic bombs are relatively simple but the failure rates are also high. I don't believe Iran has a viable bomb program, yet.

We are being told they are close to assembling a device. I do not believe they are within a decade of having anything they could deliver with any certainty of it working.

The only real research in WMD's is here in the US. Bush wants a Therno-nuclear device that can penetrate deep into the Earth to reach hardened shelters. Now HE scares me! Nobody has ever wanted a device to threaten a nuclear exchange, cleanly. Bush is trying to create a situation where the use of such weapons could be considered tolerable.

For a person that describes himself as Pro-Life, he sure has caused a lot of deaths.

To be specific, don't believe the talk. If a country has never tested a weapon and the critical designs involved, it is because they don't have it.  

Answer 10

because they developed them already.

Answer 11

Because some country (guess who) wants to invade Iran, but it doesn't want to invade Israel now.

Answer 12

Israel is a country full of civilized people. Iran is a country full of wacko people who follow a medieval religion which tells them to annihilate the entire civilized world.