The recent parliamentary elections will result in Ahmadinejad losing power and Ayatollah Khamenei becoming the uncontested leader of Iran. No moderation of policy is expected from this change. However, an attempt to negotiate with the new Speaker should be made.

Assuming that Iran does not change its course, I can think of only three ways to prevent it from getting nuclear weapons.

1. Invade and install a cooperative government led by leader we approve of such as the Shah. A strong US presence would have to be maintained to assure that there could not be a successful revolution putting an enemy of the United States in power.
2. Conduct a full Naval blockade and at least a partial air and land blockade. This would cause the economic collapse of Iran and provoke serious terrorist actions against the United States and Israel.
3. Make a nuclear attack on all Iranian facilities involved in developing and manufacturing nuclear weapons. This would result in the destruction of Tehran and the holy city of Qom resulting in millions of deaths.

None of these options are attractive and probably none could get the support of the American people. An air attack by Israel may slightly delay the Iranian bomb, but it will not stop it. The Israelis are smart enough to know that an attack by them on Iran will assure a counter attack when Iran comes into possession of nuclear weapons either by producing them or buying them from Pakistan or North Korea. The United States may be struck as well because of our support of Israel.

If President Obama means that Iran will not be allowed to have nuclear weapons he faces difficult choices. Option 2 followed by Option 1 may be the least insane course of action. If we fail to act decisively I believe we will have nuclear war in the Middle East in the near future.