Good analysis & well-stated.
I would introduce 1 caveat to the “limited ABM” statement that I made. Yes, it’s only 10 interceptors... today. If Iran has a half-dozen IRBM’s that is probably enough. What happens when Iran’s IRBM-Nuke stockpile doubles? And doubles again? Pretty soon you have backup radars & interceptors springing-up like crab-grass.
The thing is — and Putin should realize this — Iran will need to be dealt with before they have any serious nuclear arsenal. Neither we, no the Russians, can afford to allow Iran to go too far down that road. They aren’t building them for deterence...
“The thing is — and Putin should realize this — Iran will need to be dealt with before they have any serious nuclear arsenal. “
Obviously we are FR only know what we read, true and not, and what little we see of Putin, BUT there was a piece after his Iran trip which essentially said he had realized the iranian government was crazy and dangerous, and didn’t think like him at all. The article implied this was quite a shock to him to see in person.