Iran’s Ayatollah Khameini would surely love Nick Anderson’s political cartoon in the July 20 Portland Press Herald.

It’s easy to mock Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for being uneasy with an agreement between Israel’s prime supporter and Israel’s arch-enemy.

It’s not so easy to live with the reality of threats of annihilation from a nation sworn to your destruction. One can only hope that the United States has taken into account the warnings of an ally who should know, having served as the canary in the coal mine on other occasions.

As the chief sponsor of radical terrorism in the Middle East and many other places throughout the world, Iran is highly suspect. Other nations that have nuclear weapon capability are not promising to wipe their rivals off the face of the earth.

Iran’s saber-rattling should cause alarm not just for Netanyahu, but also for every national government leader, and whether Iran can be depended on to fulfill agreements should be suspect to every agency of every country.

Perhaps if Mr. Anderson lived in a country the size of New Jersey, surrounded by hostile neighbors and openly threatened with destruction, he might be glad of a leader who isn’t afraid to speak up in the defense of his people and his nation.

Elaine Crasnick Kahaner

Old Orchard Beach