A single high-altiltude electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear detonation could do a lot of damage to the US. Launching it off the deck of an oil freighter along one of our coasts would make it hard to intercept and difficult to tell where it came from. The Iranians are just crazy enough to try a stunt like this knowing full well that MAD applies.
Nah. Those who rise to positions of real state power are never true religious fanatics. Power hunger operates against true religious fanaticism. The true religious fanatics are used by such people, but the powerful themselves wish to remain alive so they can continue to enjoy the manifold privileges of power. It's essentially a law of human nature. Suggestions to the contrary are propaganda, plain and simple.
