Iran is over 1000 miles away, and doesn't share a watershed with Israel. They could in theory use a smallish nuclear device and not harm themselves. Something on the order of what the US used on Japan. A few tens of kilotons.
Ionizing radiation actually dissipates rather quickly. It's not as scary as some people assume if you are far enough away. The big problem is the long half life radioactive contaminants that get into the ground and are taken up into the foodchain. Alpha decay from heavy metals inside your body is very unpleasant.
But even Japan isn't uninhabitable today, despite being attacked with nuclear weapons. That doesn't mean there aren't still cancers as a result of the event, but it does imply that Iran would probably still be habitable after a few years, especially if a concerted cleanup effort was undertaken.
The atomic bombs dropped on Japan were much less potent than any current nuclear bomb. At least according to what I read:
"The explosive power of a thermonuclear bomb can be hundreds or thousands of times more powerful than atomic bombs. While the force of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were measured in kilotons (one thousand tons) of TNT, the force of thermonuclear bombs is measured in megatons (a million tons)."
So, in my mind, I can't see any kind of bomb like this not leading to much, much worse end results that what happened in Japan. I'm not in favor of that.
I feel that once you open that door, the response in kind will rapidly lead to the destruction of all the entire world.
Iran is over 1000 miles away, and doesn't share a watershed with Israel. They could in theory use a smallish nuclear device and not harm themselves. Something on the order of what the US used on Japan. A few tens of kilotons.
Ionizing radiation actually dissipates rather quickly. It's not as scary as some people assume if you are far enough away. The big problem is the long half life radioactive contaminants that get into the ground and are taken up into the foodchain. Alpha decay from heavy metals inside your body is very unpleasant.
But even Japan isn't uninhabitable today, despite being attacked with nuclear weapons. That doesn't mean there aren't still cancers as a result of the event, but it does imply that Iran would probably still be habitable after a few years, especially if a concerted cleanup effort was undertaken.
The atomic bombs dropped on Japan were much less potent than any current nuclear bomb. At least according to what I read:
"The explosive power of a thermonuclear bomb can be hundreds or thousands of times more powerful than atomic bombs. While the force of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were measured in kilotons (one thousand tons) of TNT, the force of thermonuclear bombs is measured in megatons (a million tons)."
So, in my mind, I can't see any kind of bomb like this not leading to much, much worse end results that what happened in Japan. I'm not in favor of that.
I feel that once you open that door, the response in kind will rapidly lead to the destruction of all the entire world.