We all (lots of us, anyway) saw it coming even 50 years ago, and I hate to say it is inevitable... but it is inevitable no matter what nuclear non-proliferation treaties might be attempted.
And there's no way to stop it.
"And you don't believe
we're on the Eve
of Destruction?"
From the NYTimes:
When President Obama began making the case for a deal with Iran that would delay its ability to assemble an atomic weapon, his first argument was that a nuclear-armed Iran would set off a “free-for-all” of proliferation in the Arab world. “It is almost certain that other players in the region would feel it necessary to get their own nuclear weapons,” he said in 2012.
Now, as he gathered Arab leaders over dinner at the White House on Wednesday and prepared to meet with them at Camp David on Thursday, he faced a perverse consequence: Saudi Arabia and many of the smaller Arab states are now vowing to match whatever nuclear enrichment capability Iran is permitted to retain.
Match? I expect some to have already put plans in motion to exceed (and hope to protect themselves from) whatever Iran does. The problem is that if this new proliferation continues among religious fanatics who do not fear retaliation and widespread death, a new cold war will have far less deterrent value.