US Attacks Iran 2026

[Bootstrap]

The fact Iran has these capabilities is quite clearly a problem, though, and makes it very obvious such a regime cannot be trusted with nuclear weapons.

The White House and the Administration have made a range of claims about how close Iran is to having nuclear weapons. Maybe weeks, months, a year, or years. They said the strikes earlier this year set the program back “for years.”

Nobody wants to trust Iran with nuclear weapons. Under JCPOA, if Iran left the treaty, it would still take them about a year to produce the fissile material for one nuclear bomb, and that doesn't mean they could use it in a weapon that quickly. Inspections were ongoing, and more thorough than for any other country.

Why did we walk away from JCPOA without anything to replace it? How is the current war better than JCPOA?

[Valerie]

The fact Iran has these capabilities is quite clearly a problem, though, and makes it very obvious such a regime cannot be trusted with nuclear weapons.

The White House and the Administration have made a range of claims about how close Iran is to having nuclear weapons. Maybe weeks, months, a year, or years. They said the strikes earlier this year set the program back “for years.”

Nobody wants to trust Iran with nuclear weapons. Under JCPOA, if Iran left the treaty, it would still take them about a year to produce the fissile material for one nuclear bomb, and that doesn't mean they could use it in a weapon that quickly. Inspections were ongoing, and more thorough than for any other country.

Why did we walk away from JCPOA without anything to replace it? How is the current war better than JCPOA?

Negotiations failed.

[JohnH]

The fact Iran has these capabilities is quite clearly a problem, though, and makes it very obvious such a regime cannot be trusted with nuclear weapons.

The White House and the Administration have made a range of claims about how close Iran is to having nuclear weapons. Maybe weeks, months, a year, or years. They said the strikes earlier this year set the program back “for years.”

Nobody wants to trust Iran with nuclear weapons. Under JCPOA, if Iran left the treaty, it would still take them about a year to produce the fissile material for one nuclear bomb, and that doesn't mean they could use it in a weapon that quickly. Inspections were ongoing, and more thorough than for any other country.

Why did we walk away from JCPOA without anything to replace it? How is the current war better than JCPOA?

Because the Iranians were constantly engaging in cheating the inspections?

[Bootstrap]

The fact Iran has these capabilities is quite clearly a problem, though, and makes it very obvious such a regime cannot be trusted with nuclear weapons.

The White House and the Administration have made a range of claims about how close Iran is to having nuclear weapons. Maybe weeks, months, a year, or years. They said the strikes earlier this year set the program back “for years.”

Nobody wants to trust Iran with nuclear weapons. Under JCPOA, if Iran left the treaty, it would still take them about a year to produce the fissile material for one nuclear bomb, and that doesn't mean they could use it in a weapon that quickly. Inspections were ongoing, and more thorough than for any other country.

Why did we walk away from JCPOA without anything to replace it? How is the current war better than JCPOA?

Negotiations failed.

What does that mean? The agreement was already in place, and the United States chose to withdraw from it. Unilaterally. The JCPOA was the result of extensive negotiations involving diplomats, nuclear scientists, and technical experts working through highly detailed verification and enrichment constraints.

Since then, there haven't been any negotiations at the same level of technical detail or progress. Nothing has replaced JCPOA.

[Bootstrap]

Why did we walk away from JCPOA without anything to replace it? How is the current war better than JCPOA?

Because the Iranians were constantly engaging in cheating the inspections?

During the JCPOA period, international inspectors consistently reported that Iran was complying with the agreement’s nuclear limits. There were concerns about past undeclared activities and some access disputes, but not evidence of ongoing, systematic cheating of the inspections.

And JCPOA gave inspectors unprecedented access to the process. They were able to monitor very well.

Once we withdrew from the treaty, of course, Iran no longer felt constrained.

[JohnH]

During the JCPOA period, international inspectors consistently reported that Iran was complying with the agreement’s nuclear limits. There were concerns about past undeclared activities and some access disputes, but not evidence of ongoing, systematic cheating of the inspections.

And JCPOA gave inspectors unprecedented access to the process. They were able to monitor very well.

Once we withdrew from the treaty, of course, Iran no longer felt constrained.

Something I've always found very unappealing about the left is the endless apologism for Soviet-aligned states (including the USSR themselves) to develop missiles and nuclear weapons. There is nothing good about a state like Iran building long-range missiles.

[Bootstrap]

During the JCPOA period, international inspectors consistently reported that Iran was complying with the agreement’s nuclear limits. There were concerns about past undeclared activities and some access disputes, but not evidence of ongoing, systematic cheating of the inspections.

And JCPOA gave inspectors unprecedented access to the process. They were able to monitor very well.

Once we withdrew from the treaty, of course, Iran no longer felt constrained.

Something I've always found very unappealing about the left is the endless apologism for Soviet-aligned states (including the USSR themselves) to develop missiles and nuclear weapons. There is nothing good about a state like Iran building long-range missiles.

Huh? What are you talking about?

Everyone in this thread agrees that we don't want Iran to build long-range missiles. But our recent actions may convince them that they need to defend themselves against American invasions any way they can.

We were better off with an inspections program that kept them from building nuclear weapons. We had that under JCPOA. We walked away from JCPOA with nothing to replace it.

Also, before the invasion, many Iranians saw the United States as an ally. The civilian casualties and the cost of the war on Iranian civilians is changing that. We are losing hearts and minds.

[Judas Maccabeus]

During the JCPOA period, international inspectors consistently reported that Iran was complying with the agreement’s nuclear limits. There were concerns about past undeclared activities and some access disputes, but not evidence of ongoing, systematic cheating of the inspections.

And JCPOA gave inspectors unprecedented access to the process. They were able to monitor very well.

Once we withdrew from the treaty, of course, Iran no longer felt constrained.

Something I've always found very unappealing about the left is the endless apologism for Soviet-aligned states (including the USSR themselves) to develop missiles and nuclear weapons. There is nothing good about a state like Iran building long-range missiles.

Huh? What are you talking about?

Everyone in this thread agrees that we don't want Iran to build long-range missiles. But our recent actions may convince them that they need to defend themselves against American invasions any way they can.

We were better off with an inspections program that kept them from building nuclear weapons. We had that under JCPOA. We walked away from JCPOA with nothing to replace it.

Also, before the invasion, many Iranians saw the United States as an ally. The civilian casualties and the cost of the war on Iranian civilians is changing that. We are losing hearts and minds.

If you have inspectors on the ground, it is actually fairly easy to pick up cheating. Just get dirt from the local rivers.

[JohnH]

Also, before the invasion, many Iranians saw the United States as an ally. The civilian casualties and the cost of the war on Iranian civilians is changing that. We are losing hearts and minds.

Based on what evidence?

[Bootstrap]

Also, before the invasion, many Iranians saw the United States as an ally. The civilian casualties and the cost of the war on Iranian civilians is changing that. We are losing hearts and minds.

Based on what evidence?

Civilian casualties and war conditions almost always change public opinion. We no longer look like their liberators when we are killing civilians and bombing schools.

I could give you lots of examples from other wars, but I think you probably know them.