Analyst's note:  I agree with Dr. Phares who points out that, "Iran’s nuclear plans are part of a strategy that includes threatening America into a stalemate while it gathers a nuclear weapons stockpile at home."

"[....] the Khomeinists have extended Iran’s launch radius far from mainland Iran.  Hezbollah in Lebanon, the increasingly pro-Iranian Iraqi government and, at least for now, the Assad regime in Syria offer potential launch sites.  The Iranians have a presence in Eritrea and Sudan, and they even have allies in South America (Chavez’s Venezuela).  And, last but not least, Iran’s commanders boasted about their ability to deploy ships off the coast of the United States en route to refueling in Venezuela and other possible Latin American safe havens.

[...] the Iranian regime is seeking the stalemate of mutually assured destruction.  Iran wants to stockpile delivery systems that can be rapidly outfitted with nuclear warheads, so that the U.S. and its Western allies will not be able to destroy them before it is too late. The stakes would be too high to attack if Iran has both the bomb and the ability to use it anywhere."