Iran is much closer to having operational nuclear weapons than the CIA believes, and Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has a plan. With twelve nuclear warheads mounted on twelve missiles, he will make Iran a martyr nation; then he will lead the world’s Muslims in a holy war against the nonbelievers. However, the Americans have a secret weapon in a group of Iranian dissidents, including a brother and sister determined to avenge the death of their beloved grandfather at the hands of the religious police. They are funneling information to Tommy Carmellini. They want to stop the attack before their leader launches a new world war. Will the U.S. government believe the information they are providing, and can the Americans prevent the Israelis from taking matters into their own hands, which could prove disastrous? STEPHEN COONTS is the author of sixteen New York Times bestselling books that have been translated and published around the world. A former naval aviator and Vietnam combat veteran, he is a graduate of West Virginia University and the University of Colorado School of Law. He lives in Colorado. 'A full-blooded techno-thriller from one of the masters of the art... Compelling, fierce and prescient' Daily Mail. A DEVASTATING AGENDA Iran is much closer to having operational nuclear weapons than the CIA believes and its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has a plan. With twelve nuclear warheads mounted on twelve missiles, he will make Iran a martyr nation—and lead the world’s Muslims in a holy war. A WORLD ON EDGE But the Americans have a secret weapon in a group of Iranian dissidents, including a brother and sister determined to avenge the death of a family member at the hands of the religious police. Their mission: to funnel information to special agent Tommy Carmellini and thwart Ahmadinejad’s efforts. A COUNTDOWN TO WAR But will Admiral Jake Grafton and the U.S. government believe the information these two informants are providing? Can the Americans prevent the Israelis from taking matters into their own hands and striking first? Meanwhile, the race is on to stop Iran from launching an all-out nuclear nightmare—and time has already run out…  “A nail-biting near-future thriller…Hardly a page passes without nerve-stretching tension or flat-out action.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review) CHAPTER ONE May: Syria     The dark green bombs fell from a milky sky. There were six of them, weighing a ton apiece. They had been dropped from an altitude of about twenty-six thousand feet, so the fall was going to take a while.     On the ground, Mikhail Toporov heard the distant, fading thunder of the three warplanes. Although he didn’t know it, they were Israeli F-15s. He scanned the sky. The visibility was excellent in the dry air under a high cirrus layer, which made the sky look a dirty white. Toporov saw nothing. If he had looked harder, he would have seen the aircraft as black dots against the white clouds, but his eyes were not focused for really distant objects. Even as he looked, the falling bombs were accelerating to terminal velocity.     Mikhail Toporov was offended by the airplane noise. There should be no aircraft at all in this prohibited zone.     Toporov flipped away his cigarette and walked quickly back into the air defense command and control bunker. Meanwhile the GPS modules on the tails of the bombs located their satellites and began issuing steering commands to canards that protruded from modules screwed into the noses of the weapons. Each bomb steered toward its designated target.     As the warplanes completed their postrelease turns and steadied out on course for home base, Mikhail Toporov leaned over the shoulder of one of his Russian colleagues seated at a radar console and looked at the display. The radar was sweeping . . .  and there were no returns.     “Select the local area display,” Toporov said.     “That is the local area display.”     It didn’t compute. Toporov had just heard the planes. “Select fi fty kilometers,” he said.     A flip of a switch, and still the scope was empty.     “Something is wrong,” Toporov said, his mind racing.     Now only three miles above him, the bombs plummeted down. Inside the administration building for the Syrian nuclear reactor, which was just next door, less than fifty yards away, Dr. Raza Qureshi was eating lunch at his desk while he scrutinized the latest draft of the government’s Top Secret plan to stockpile enriched uranium for future nuclear warheads. He had written the plan upon direction from Damascus; it was almost ready to be signed and forwarded to the ministry.     Dr. Qureshi gave little thought to the political implications of the plan—he was concerned with the technical aspects. Still, he knew that Syria and her allies in the Middle East had many formidable enemies, with the most formidable, Israel, not very far away. It was his belief that the national leaders were prudent and correct to plan for the future.     He used his finger