Despite all of the handwringing over the past 24 hours over the U.S. military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, anyone who has been paying attention since the siege on the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979 realizes that we have been at war with the ayatollahs in Iran for 46 years. They have hit us all over the world, taken thousands of American lives, and left thousands more maimed. We have capitulated to, appeased, and pleaded with the Iranian regime since then, trying to always take the high ground and avoiding direct violent confrontation with the regime. That has afforded the Iranian regime with the luxury of time to build up its proxies and to focus on its nuclear weapons ambitions. It is about time that we have a leader in the White House who recognizes that diplomacy doesn’t work with these cowards who are committed to our demise. The overnight attacks on Iranian nuclear sites send two messages. One is to the Iranian regime. We have no more tolerance for their stall tactics and will give them no more time to work on their nuclear weapons program. The other is to the Iranian people. The Islamic regime is a paper tiger incapable of protecting and providing for the citizens of Iran. Their words are hollow and they are too weak to stand up to their enemies. The Iranian people would do well to seize the moment and reclaim their country from their failed leaders.
Why the risk of a devastating attack from Iran may be more real today than before the historic B-2 bombing run.
For years the Islamic Republic regime in Iran has been focused on developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. Civilization nuclear energy production only requires 3-5% of UF6 (uranium hexafluoride)enrichment. Iran announced that it had enriched uranium to 3.5% on April 11, 2006, at its Natanz pilot enrichment plant, according to the Arms Control Association.
Iran has been producing electricity using nuclear power at its Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Iran’s only operating nuclear power reactor, since 2013. As of 2023, this accounts for 1.7% in of the country’s total electricity generation, a relatively small percentage. As I write, Iran has enriched UF6 to between 60% and 83%. 90% concentration is what is needed to produce a viable nuclear weapon. Using its current enriched uranium stockpiles, this could happen in as little as two weeks. Iran has had enough warning to take steps to move stockpiles away from the nuclear sites struck by the U.S. before the GBU-57 series MOP (Massive Ordnance Penetrator) bombs hit their targets on June 22. Concentrating these existing stockpiles to weapons grade uranium from 60% to 90% can be done in small laboratories in a relatively short time frame.
Despite the unprecedented Israeli attacks on Iranian targets, Israel’s superiority of Iranian airspace, and the historic B-2 bombing run Iranian nuclear development sites, the Islamic Republic remains a threat that should not be underestimated. Iran still has thousands of missiles capable of reaching Israel and American bases in the Middle East, enough enriched uranium to be able to build up to nine nuclear warheads, and the religious zeal to fight to the death. Ending hostilities today while leaving the regime in power with an arsenal of missiles and a stockpile of soon-to-be-fissionable nuclear materials now whisked away to new hiding places guarantees that the worse battles have still to be fought.
The best option for permanently ending the ongoing conflict with Iran is to replace the regime with a secular government that is accountable to its citizens and the international community. In this scenario, Iran could trade with the world and Iranian citizens could enjoy the rights and freedoms of free citizens everywhere. If the regime is left in place, it must be neutered, losing its ability to strike targets outside of its borders while losing its ability to ever enrich uranium beyond the 3-5% required for civilian energy generation. Under the circumstances, the regime may play lip service to those conditions as it seeks new ways to circumvent any restrictions imposed by the international community. In the long run, the Islamic regime can never be trusted. The regime is pragmatic, willing and able to play the long game. It will align itself with the adversaries of the West, including Russia and North Korea, but eventually, it will have to break with these. The Islamic regime will always adhere to the religious tenets that form its world view, which are incompatible with the secular world. At its core, it will always be committed to the destruction of Israel and the Western world. Their world view does not leave room for peaceful coexistence. They force the choice of us or them.
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