I keep forgetting to check in with Yossef Bodansky at the International Stategic Studies Association. His input sure seems to be missing from the public discourse. Be sure to read the "Special Reports" in the upper right hand corner of the home page.

In July of 2006 they issued a special report on Iran -- Iran Believes it is Ready for Nuclear War:

"July 19, 2006, it had become clear that all the pieces were now in position for the Iranian clerical Administration under “Supreme Leader” “Ayatollah” Ali Hoseini-Khamene‘i and Pres. Mahmud Ahmadi-Nejad to escalate their conflict with Israel and the West in the manner which best suited their purposes. Pres. Ahmadi-Nejad said as much on July 18, 2006, promising a “rejoicing” for Muslims in the Middle East “soon”, and noting at an address in Mashhad that the “volcano of rage” at the “arrogant powers” was “on the verge of eruption”.

Pres. Ahmadi-Nejad made other references to the possible imminent destruction of Israel. And he did so with the knowledge that Iran was ready to escalate the conflict up to, and including, direct strategic-level military confrontation with Israel and the US. Iranian negotiators, particularly on matters related to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections of the Iranian nuclear weapons programs, had stalled successfully for some time.

It was clear, by July 19, 2006, that this stalling was no longer necessary. Alaeddin Borujerdi, the Iranian Majlis member who heads the national security and foreign policy commission, said that the Majlis itself could push through legislation suspending Iranian membership in the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the Security Council pressured Iran further on the nuclear issue. The week before, the UK, the People’s Republic of China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States decided to send Iran’s case back to the Security Council after Tehran failed to respond to demands that it cease uranium enrichment.

Iran, which is close to a domestic capacity to produce nuclear weapons, already has an arsenal of externally-acquired nuclear weapons, and its ready for conflict at a nuclear level."