"He is an easy target, but is safe there – we are not going to take him out , at least not for now." Is it me, or is the Donald going soft in his old age? Meanwhile Reza Pahlavi, son of the last shah of Iran, is talking of a return to the country should the ghastly authoritarian regime be forced out by the benevolent Israeli bombing campaign. Reza will no doubt set up a peace-loving constitutional monarchy, with a democratically elected parliament, and a liberal, outward-looking government led by Persia's answer to Nick Clegg. The US will invest billions of pounds bringing Iran into the 21st century, and the former warlords will spend their retirement practising their swing on the new Donald Trump golf courses that will spring up all across the deserts. Pretty much, then, like what happened in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain after the 'Arab Spring'. Oh, hang on.... Nobody should mourn the possible passing of Iran's wicked regime, and if - and it's a very big if - the Israelis do succeed in preventing it from developing nuclear weapons, then that can only come as a huge relief. It's just that you might think the 25 years or so western leaders have been trying to impose democracy on the Middle East would have tempered the romantic notion that the people of these countries just want the same things as the rest of us, and would happily embrace liberal values if only we could find a way of removing those beastly tyrants at the top of the tree. Let's face it, they have a very different culture, where brute strength and dogmatic ideology are everything, and concepts like tolerance are seen as weakness. If the regime in Iran should fall, the most likely outcome is that Iran will embark on a bloody civil war, which may - at least in the short term - stymie the country's threat to the rest of the world. But in the long run there is also the risk that it will be the maddest, baddest, most violent warlord who prevails. It usually is. As I write, there is growing speculation that the US could ask Britain to use one of its airbases in the vicinity, either on the Chagos Islands or in Cyprus. I'm not going to take a kneejerk response, because frankly I don't know enough about it. I just hope the Prime Minister does what is best for Britain, and is not swayed by emotive arguments from either side. What I will say, though, if Donald Trump does ask for our help, that the Prime Minister will use his position to leverage a more supportive line on aiding the Ukraine. As somebody once said, it's all about who holds the cards. Today is the first day of summer proper, and the longest day of the year. As I write, the temperatures are sizzling, and I hope you are enjoying it. Because it's downhill all the way from here....