For the past few months the United States is becoming increasingly impatient with Iran on the nuclear issue. Notwithstanding Iran's repeated denials of the charge that it was developing nuclear weapons, the US concern about Iran's progress in the nuclear field has reached the point of near panic. Indeed, Iran is fast replacing Afghanistan, Iraq and Hamas as Washington's main concern.

There being total disillusionment in Europe with any more military adventures in the region, the efforts of the US are presently concentrated on pressuring Iran through diplomatic and economic means. But given the Washington's past record, some sort of armed action cannot be completely ruled out.

President Ahmadinejad's bold and sometime terse rejoinders to US warnings have only increased the level of Washington's concern, with little or no realization that more the pressure and threats it deploys against Tehran, the stronger would be Iranian resolve to go for military deterrence to defend their borders and national sovereignty.

There are credible reports that Iran has achieved significant success in its nuclear development plans. But it has repeatedly assured the world that it not working on nuclear bomb and no intentions to go for that in the future either. Its plans are strictly for peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The IAEA inspections too have found no evidence of Iran's going in for any nuclear weapons. But the US is not satisfied.

As in so many other matters concerning the Middle East, behind all this US concern about Iranian nuclear plans, is Israel. In fact, it is Israel which is more panicky about the Iranian plans because it has been Israel's policy to keep all the other countries of the region embroiled in wars and conflicts. Unfortunately, the US has always played into Israel's hands all these years. As result the Middle East has seen more wars and devastation in the post-second world war era than any other region of the world. The real mischief maker is Israel.

Israel itself is the only state in the region to have a nuclear bombs but that has never been objected to by the US or any other western power. Far from taking any measures against Israel, they want to keep its monopoly in nuclear weapons in the region. That is why the western powers clandestinely supported Israel's bombing of Iraq's Sotiris nuclear plant though there was no evidence that the latter had developed any nuclear weapon.

The present campaign against Iran is a continuation of the same policy.

If they really want the region to be nuclear-free, the US and the other western powers should denuclearize Israel instead of going after Iran.

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