"But the ultimate aim of Iran, as I understand it, is that they want to be recognized as a major power in the Middle East and they are. "This is to them the road to get that recognition to power and prestige and ... an insurance policy against what they heard in the past about regime change, axis of evil." - Mohamed ElBaradei IAEA.

So Iran wants nuclear weapons as "an insurance policy against what they heard in the past about regime change, axis of evil" does it?

Perhaps ElBaradei can explain why in that case Iran's efforts to acquire such weapons were carried out in secret and initiated long before any ever mentioned "axis of evil" or "regime change".