I think the main difference is that it will require a truly believable threat, as we learned during the Cold War, of massive retaliation as a possible response. In other words, Iran must know that if it decides to try to annihilate Israel using nuclear weapons, it will itself be annihilated. That's why I called upon this extension of the NATO umbrella, the nuclear shield, over Israel. I think it is a different situation from most of the others.
On May 5th, 2009. See this statement in context.