(Nolan 2003, p. 3) Far from being simply another policy document, this strategy was what the U.S. administration cited as its rationale for unilaterally invading Iraq on the assumption that the nation possessed weapons of mass destruction. In light of this invasion and its prior association by the administration with Iraq, Iran is justified in being wary of the motives and actions of the U.S.

             It is not only this proven propensity of the United States to invade nations believed to be hiding weapons of mass destruction, but the obvious favoritism displayed by the U.S. in which countries it chooses to insist abide by the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel is not a signatory of the treaty (one of only three countries-India and Pakistan are the others) and is widely believed to have developed nuclear weapons. (Karawan, 1998, p. 185) By developing these weapons, Israel has indirectly encouraged neighboring nations to develop their own nuclear defense systems as a defense against Israel's capabilities. "There is little doubt about Israel's possession of a nuclear arsenal and the means of delivering nuclear devices to their targets in the extended region.policy makers in surrounding countries, and their societies, must take this factor into consideration." (Ibid).

             In light of the instability in the Middle Eastern region and the widely accepted fact that at least one nation (Israel) already possesses nuclear capabilities, it is a reasonable foreign policy for Iran to wish to develop a second-strike capability to deter any potential nuclear threat from Israel. Israel has not openly admitted the existence of their nuclear program, although "this is now regarded as an open secret after Israeli nuclear scientist Mordechai Vanunu revealed the program to the British Sunday Times in 1986 (for which Vanunu was abducted and imprisoned in Israel for 18 years)." (Wikipedia online cite).