From Newsgroup: alt.history.what-if
On 3/6/26 21:26, The Horny Goat wrote:
One scenario I've don't remember ever seeing either here or on soc.history.what-if is how things would be different if the Shah of
Iran had had a dozen or so nukes before his fall in 1979.
This of course would probably have put nukes into the hands of the Ayatollah's from the beginning.
Various possible outcomes I can envision include
- an ultimatum to the Islamic Republic (probably by both the US and
Soviets) to disarm under joint US / Soviet supervision
- various cities in the Middle East (notably Tel Aviv and Riyadh,
possibly Baghdad) glowing in the dark
- certainly no invasion by Saddam Hussein either in 1980, 1991 or
earlier
Hmm. Israel had nukes in the 1970s. If you say Tel-Aviv is glowing
then sections of Iran will be glowing also. They will still probably
try to assassinate Saddam as they attempt to export their Islamic
revolution elsewhere. It was a sort of escalating tit for tat when
that was going on. It might turn out somewhat similar.
- I don't think the Shah's regime would have the time to do what South Africa did which was to destroy all their nukes before handing over
power to Mandela.
For one thing the Shah had cancer and it's open to debate as to
whether he had full control of Iran immediately before his fall - and
if someone else did, who?
If we HAVE discussed this scenario is it stored outside Usenet?
(Either Google Groups or Deja News - do either of these still exist?)
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