OPINION:
President Trump has told us and the world many times that Iran is a fanatical terrorist state and that he will, one way or another, make sure it never gets a nuclear bomb.
Iran’s response is: What nuclear bomb? It insists the enriched uranium is for peaceful purposes, such as generating electricity, and that it will continue enriching whether Mr. Trump likes it or not. How do we reconcile what they tell us with the fact that they are them enriching to a level many times greater than what is needed for peaceful purposes? The United Nations estimates that if Iran continues on this path, it will probably accumulate enough nuclear-grade material to build at least nine such bombs.
Further weakening his rhetoric in addition to excluding Israel from his talks is that Mr. Trump has allowed Iran to delay while he attempts to bargain. But to what end? Iran is building or buying delivery-capable ballistic missiles, an immediate existential problem for neighboring Israel and other Middle Eastern countries. But ballistic missiles can have great range, and that extends the problem to yet other countries, including the United States.
Four things are now clear: Negotiating with fanatical terrorists is futile, Trump’s threats are clearly hollow, geopolitical deals are very different from real estate deals and the Iranians appear to hold the stronger hand.
This poses two material questions: First, how long will President Trump allow Iran to delay while it continues working on nuclear bombs? Perhaps indefinitely, because it appears he is afraid of the deadly consequences of his threat. Second, what options are left for Israel? What is existentially unambiguous must be done, and the sooner the better.
NORTON RUBENSTEIN
Richmond, Virginia
Please read our comment policy before commenting.