Iran and Middle East Balance of Power

The situation with Iran's nuclear weapon and long-range missile programs is immensely serious. It gives them the ability to hit Israel, the US bases in the gulf region, possibly Europe. The geographic location of Iran is unbelievably important from a balance-of-power perspective too, i.e. at the bridge between the Middle East and the Near East.

It seems to me that this is likely to be the biggest issue in the Middle East over the next 20 years. At a minimum, we will see a war (not sure who) vs. Iran to wipe out their capabilities. Or a total reshuffling of power in the region. Or worse. Here is the latest development, with an excerpt below:

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's influential former president, on Tuesday added to the war of words with Israel and the United States by claiming Iran had developed a satellite-launching rocket with a range of 2,000km.