Second, we shall discuss briefly the necessary conditions for a just peace in the Middle East and say why we think its prospects are so poor. Israel has long held that Iran intends to develop nuclear weapons, which would clearly constitute a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). No matter that, with US backing, Israel, Pakistan, and India all posses nuclear weapons and are not signatories to the NPT. The same official acknowledged that Israel’s 1981 attack on Iraq’s nuclear reactor did not end Saddam’s nuclear weapon’s programme, it initiated it. The crucial difference is that Iran’s defensive stance now seems certain to include the rapid development of nuclear weapons, for deterrence.