During the transition of the American administrations, Iran declared openly that they would begin enriching uranium at 20%.
When Joe Biden came into office, he began placing people into senior levels of leadership who worked on the 2015 Iran deal under Obama. These same people are determined to bring Iran back into the 2015 JCPOA deal. Many of them have a track record of being anti-Israel.
Iran has openly declared that they are uninterested in returning to the deal unless the US removes all sanctions and restrictions from their country. They’ve returned the ball back to America’s court, saying that the US must lift sanctions on Iran before discussions can even be renewed.
Some experts believe that at Iran’s current rate of uranium enrichment, they could have a nuclear bomb within a matter of months.
What will it take to stop them?
This week, Israel’s Chief of Staff, Lt. General Aviv Kochavi, had a warning for Iran:
“Iran can decide that it wants to advance to a bomb, either covertly or in a provocative way. In light of this basic analysis, I have ordered the IDF to prepare a number of operational plans, in addition to the existing ones. We are studying these plans and we will develop them over the next year.
“The government will of course be the one to decide if they should be used. But these plans must be on the table, in existence and trained for.”
In a speech that he delivered at the Institute for National Security Studies this week, Lt. General Kochavi also said:
“If the 2015 nuclear deal were carried out, Iran would be able to get itself a weapon because the agreement did not include limits to prevent this when [the agreement] ended. As of today, Iran has increased the amount of enriched material beyond what was permitted. It enriched it to levels beyond what was permitted. It developed and manufactured centrifuges that will allow it to rush ahead and produce a weapon at a much faster rate, within months, maybe even weeks.”
The IDF also issued a series of Twitter messages this week regarding Iran:
“In the face of these threats, we will respond with an extremely significant counterattack that will include targeting rockets, missiles and weapons, whether in open areas, or adjacent to and inside buildings.”
Israel is making its clear case: they are and will be prepared to take any and all necessary action against Iran if needed. They are prepared to take action even if it means going against US policy or positions. They will do everything in their power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear bomb.
Just in case you can’t remember why the 2015 nuclear deal was so terrible, here’s a quick overview:
- The deal opened the path for Iran to reach nuclear capability by 2025.
- It permitted Iran to enrich uranium.
- It didn’t affect Iran’s ballistic missile program at all.
- It gave Iran the power to decide which nuclear sites UN inspectors could enter.
- The deal gave Iran a direct payoff of $150 billion dollars, including $1.7 billion in cash.
Joe Biden and his senior leadership seem determined to bring Iran back to this disastrous deal. Iran is not interested unless returning to the deal is predicated by the US removing all sanctions on their country.
Israel has a history of being America’s greatest ally in the Middle East. The two countries have shared a historic friendship since Israel’s founding in 1948.
Since the Biden Administration has taken office however, the senior government leadership positions in America have been filled with those who have a history of anti-semitism and anti-Israel policies and rhetoric, and many of them are very pro-Iran.
Will Israel stand up to the United States when it comes to stopping Iran from creating a nuclear bomb? If the statements from the IDF and Israel’s Chief of Staff are any indication, then yes they will.
