A New World? Hopes rise after Iran nuclear strikes

Whatever one’s opinion of US President Donald Trump – and there are many – we cannot be anything other than grateful for his decision to bomb Fordow and other sites in the Islamic Republic’s nefarious nuclear weapons program.

This calculated gamble, in which the US and Israel were seemingly much more in step than anyone was led to believe, means the world is undoubtedly a safer place than it was just a week ago.

Of course, it would be foolish to dismiss the existence of any danger; the Iranian regime still has many ballistic missiles and other weapons in its stockpile, not to mention the possibility of sleeper cells in the West.

But Teheran’s nuclear program seems to be severely curtailed, perhaps fatally, while its supposed allies Russia, China and North Korea seemed disinterested in coming to its aid.

Iran’s lack of nuclear weapons will see its influence in the Middle East – already severely diminished by Israel’s successful campaigns against Hamas and Hezbollah, plus the fall of the Assad regime in Syria – wane ever further.