Meanwhile, proliferation would spill into Europe — Turkey is a likely candidate to join the nuclear club in response to Iran’s ambitions. And a nuclear Turkey would bode ill both for the future of the Nato alliance and for Europe’s ability to remain nuclear-free.

This, then, is what the world would look like were Iran to go nuclear: our capitals would be threatened by nuclear ballistic missiles from Iran; there would be many unstable and unpredictable nuclear powers on our doorstep; our collective security mechanisms would be put under severe strain, or break down altogether; and the strategically vital region of the Middle East would fall under the spell of a revolutionary Islamic power determined to export its world-view far and wide.

The tidal wave unleashed by the rise of a new nuclear power in the East is not just Israel’s problem, then. Stopping it remains a paramount Western interest.