Iran has always Acted Rationally, Should Expect Deterrence will Work

Other veteran Iran watchers agree: Judith Yaphe and Charles Lutes of the National Defense University argueLutes, Charles D and Yaphe, Judith S.. Reassessing the Implications of a Nuclear-Armed Iran . Institute for National Strategic Studies: Washington, D.C., August 2005 (104p). [ More (9 quotes) ] that although Iran and the United States have long been adversaries, Iran has not acted 'carelessly or irrationally,' and they conclude that 'in the final analysis, it is likely that the Iranian regime could be deterred from overt nuclear use.'⁹⁶Lutes, Charles D and Yaphe, Judith S.. Reassessing the Implications of a Nuclear-Armed Iran . Institute for National Strategic Studies: Washington, D.C., August 2005 (104p). [ More (9 quotes) ] Cordesman and al-Rodhan concede similarly that the deterrence option 'is one that many commentators need to consider in more depth.' Reuven Pedatzur, a political scientist at Tel Aviv University and Israeli air force veteran, puts things still more bluntly: Past experience shows that the radical Iranian regime, headed by the most extreme of them all, Ayatollah Khomeini, behaved with absolute rationality at the moment of truth.