# Middle East and nuclear weapons. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 28, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-east-and-nuclear-weapons/257293 "2004-07-28T17:35:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nonpolar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3da27b/32.png) [@nonpolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nonpolar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-east-and-nuclear-weapons/257293/1 "2004-07-28T17:35:49Z")
Question about mid.east. Why Israel can have nuclear weapons, while other mid. eastern countries can not.? ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-east-and-nuclear-weapons/257293/2 "2004-07-28T17:38:44Z")
I’ll start the clock on when this gets moved to Great Debates. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-east-and-nuclear-weapons/257293/3 "2004-07-28T17:43:54Z")
An often-asked question, but rarely in search of a serious answer. Who ‘allows’ Israel to have The Bomb, and does this same group somehow prevent anyone else from having it? How? In any case, The Economist reports that the Saudi have an option on at least one Pakistani nuke. That should make the world a safer place. Or not. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-east-and-nuclear-weapons/257293/4 "2004-07-28T18:13:25Z")
Israel has no more “right” to posses nuclear weapons than Iran or the United States. Israel and the U.S. do not want Iran to have nuclear weapons because they could be used against Iran or the U.S.; Iran does not want Israel and the U.S. to have nuclear weapons because they could be used against Iran. Each point of view is equally valid. If I were a neutral party, I’d say that both sides should have nukes, or neither. However, not being a neutral party, the people I don’t want to have nukes are the people most likely to use them against _me_. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-east-and-nuclear-weapons/257293/5 "2004-07-28T18:39:43Z")
As others have pointed out, there is no organization that grants “rights” to have nuclear weapons. Nations can produce massive amounts of pressure to discourage other nations from acquiring them, however. This pressure may be in the form of economic concessions, outright bribes, sanctions, or even military force. As for whom this pressure is applied to: consider what characteristics you would like to see in a nation possessing the most powerful weapons known to man. They’d probably include a stable regime, safeguards in place to protect those nuclear assets from theft or misuse, a disinclination to share those weapons with terrorists or less stable regimes, and a very strong disinclination to use the weapons for offensive purposes. If you’re one of the nations applying pressure, you might also add “friendly to me”. Now, make a list of those Middle Eastern regimes that fit into that category… ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-east-and-nuclear-weapons/257293/6 "2004-07-28T18:48:15Z")
Israel would be crazy to use nukes on us. Many other Middle Eastern regimes ARE crazy, ranging from “questionable” to “totally nucking futs.” That being said, the question becomes “would we attack any given Middle Eastern country, if we found out they had nukes?” I would have said “No,” until George W. Bush did it for less than that. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-east-and-nuclear-weapons/257293/7 "2004-07-28T19:00:18Z")
> [@nonpolar](#): > > Question about mid.east. > Why Israel can have nuclear weapons, while other mid. eastern countries can not.? To try to answer only this OP question, and stay out of GD territory: Israel can have nuclear weapons because they have the resources (educated people & technology) to build one, and are willing to invest the funds needed to do so. Other mideast countries do not because they don’t have the educated people & technology to do this, or have not yet invested the funds needed to do this. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2004, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/middle-east-and-nuclear-weapons/257293/8 "2004-07-28T19:58:25Z")
Another factual answer might be that Israel has not signed the NPT while the other Mid East states have.