It's the USA that frequently threatens to use military force on other countries, not Iran, and it is the USA that HAS used military force on other countries, not Iran.

If I was the Iranians, I would want 10 powerful nuclear weapons in my hands as soon as humanly possible and I would want everyone to know I had them. Why? For an effective deterrent against outside attack or invasion, that's why. It has so far proven to be the ONLY possible effective deterrent against an invasion of a minor power by the Superpower.

Iran has not threatened to wipe Israel off the map. The Ayatollah did once make a statement that the present Zionist regime would someday "pass from the page of time"...as it no doubt will...because all regimes eventually pass from the page of time. He did not state that Iran had any intentions of doing anything military to MAKE that happen.

Ahmadinejad simply quoted that previous statement by the Ayatollah, and other people chose to mistranslate it and interpret it to suit their own propaganda purposes as "wipe Isreal off the map", which is not what was said at all. But they wish it was! That would give them the supposed excuse to attack pre-emptively.

The Soviet regime has passed from the page of time. No one wiped them off the map. Russia is still there. All regimes pass from the page of time. You just don't know how soon they will, that's all, but no regime lasts forever (though they all act as if they were immortal...and the best thing since sliced bread).

In that respect, regimes are a lot like people. They all seem to think they'll be around forever. Fat chance.

bObviously, Both the Zionist regime in Israel AND the present Iranian fundamentalist regime are eventually going to pass from the page of time. I can't say when, but they both will. I doubt that it ocurred for a moment to the Ayatollah that he could just as well have made the same prediction about his own regime.