Yes, nuclear weapons are a deterrent, especially when faced with a hubris laden Zionist entity and warmongering Americans. Iran is a large, rich country but very mismanaged by an inept regime, which has neglected to go on war footing and protect its human assets. Iran with 84 million people and a large resources based landmass is powerful enough to defend itself taking advantage of robust Persian nationalism and mountain terrain. I do not believe that there is any country in the world capable of occupying Iran. The insane Mr. Saddam was the last idiot to try Iran and we all know how well that ended. However, Iran is surrounded by unstable hostile states and beefing up security and modernizing the Artesh and airforce in particular should be top priority. The only avenue I see is China, as Russia is firmly in Zionist camp, just look at the daily attacks on Syria.