A Nuclear-Armed Iran's Impact on Global Security: A Report for the Centro Militare di Studi Strategici (CeMISS), Roma, Italia

The Centro Militare di Studi Strategici (CeMISS) in Rome, part of the NDU equivalent of the Italian Ministry of Defense (CASD), has wanted to set up a continuing relation with CNA, following a program they had with RAND. As a pilot project, on a personal basis, Drs. Gaffney and Whiteneck responded to CeMISS's request for a study of the implications of a nuclear-armed Iran for both the Middle East and a wider sphere, particularly southern Europe. The study explores what Iran's strategic relations are at present (end-2005), and how these might chnage if Iran had nuclear weapons. THe answer generally is that it complicates these relations and makes Iran a target for nuclear retaliation if they were ever to use such weapons. This document includes the transcript of a discussion in Rome and te briefing presented to frame the discussion. This study is also being published by CeMISS in an Italian translation.