Before commenting on this cartoon, for which I wouldn’t be surprised to get a lot of hate mail, I’d like to encourage readers to first make note of the previous piece I drew on this topic.

Here’s what I’m not arguing with this:

• That Iran has nuclear weapons, or is even necessarily pursuing them.
• That Iran’s current government can or cannot be trusted with nuclear technology.
• That Iran should or should not be welcomed into the proverbial nuclear clubhouse.
• That the international community literally has a “no Muslims” rule in effect on nuclear-armed nations.

The reason I drew this was to further illustrate my feeling that nobody can be trusted with nuclear weapons, but also to add that the double-standard the international community is applying to Iran seems unfair, especially when the two countries most aggressively criticizing them on the acquisition of nuclear technology are the only one who’s actually used nuclear weapons in an offensive manner (the United States), and an ally of the former who refuses to be open with the rest of the world about their own nuclear program (Israel). Israel, of course, has every right to feel threatened by the idea of Iran’s current government and other hostile regimes possessing such technology, but by the same token, I think a lot of Israel’s neighbors feel just as threatened by their alleged weapons.

Also, I found the image of the tree that’s also a mushroom cloud irresistible. I hope others find it clever, even if they dislike everything else about this drawing.

Many people may recognize the dialogue in this as being paraphrased from episode 2F09 of The Simpsons, “Homer the Great.”