Saddam Hussein who did not have a nuclear capacity ... was “pulverized"

NYTimes, here

"... Dr. ElBaradei, whose term of office is to expire in November, said in the interview that countries in possession of nuclear weapons were treated differently from others, citing the example of North Korea, which was invited to negotiations while Iraq under Saddam Hussein — which did not have a nuclear capacity — was “pulverized.”

“It is my gut feeling that Iran would like to have the technology to enable it to have nuclear weapons .... They want to send a message to their neighbors, to the rest of the world, ‘Don’t mess with us,’ .....“ultimate aim to be “recognized as a major power in the Middle East.”

Nuclear weapons technology, he said, was “the road to get that recognition, to get that power and prestige. “It is also an insurance policy against what they have heard in the past about regime change.”.... administration officials in Washington have said it is not clear that Mr. Moussavi would be any more flexible about Iran’s nuclear ambitions than Mr. Ahmadinejad has been."