IRAN REGARDED AS MOST POWERFUL AFTER ISRAEL

LONDON [MENL] -- Iran has been deemed the second most powerful country inthe Middle East. Western analysts determine that even without nuclear weapons, Iran coulddefeat virtually every country in the Middle East, with the exception ofIsrael. They point to Iran's large military, arsenal of intermediate-rangeballistic missiles and growing defense industry, with more than 200,000engineers and technicians.