SAEDNEWS: Former U.S. Diplomat Questions Effectiveness of Military Strike on Iran’s Nuclear Facilities
According to Saed News’ political desk, a former American diplomat, commenting on U.S. military strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities, said it remains unclear whether the action was successful.
Anthony Blinken, former U.S. Secretary of State, spoke in an exclusive interview with CNN host and analyst Fareed Zakaria about the U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear sites.
Zakaria, who hosts CNN’s GPS program, asked Blinken: “You wrote an article in The New York Times saying Trump’s attack on Iran was a mistake, although you hoped it would succeed. Is it fair to say the strike succeeded and that you were wrong to oppose it?”
Blinken responded: “I think it’s too early to judge. I genuinely hoped it would succeed because it was a problem we needed to confront. But let’s take a step back.”
Referring to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), the former secretary said: “During the Obama administration, we had a nuclear agreement with Iran. The deal placed Iran’s nuclear program within strict limits and specifically ensured that, for a relatively long period, Iran could not produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon without spending significant time—at least a year or more.”
He added: “If Iran decided to violate the agreement and move toward weapons-grade fissile material, we would know and could act. The deal bought at least a decade, possibly 15 to 20 years. Some provisions would gradually expire, but they could be extended.”
Responding to Zakaria’s comment that “bombing set back Iran’s program similarly,” Blinken said: “That’s exactly the calculation we had. We were determined to confront the problem. The question is, what is the best approach?”
The former diplomat explained the challenges of using military strikes: “The problem with bombing the nuclear program is that, yes, it could set it back one to two years depending on your assessment. But if Iran chose to rebuild, deeper underground and in locations we couldn’t access, we’d face an even bigger problem a few years later.”
He continued: “A diplomatic agreement bought us 10, 15, or 20 years while keeping the option open to use force in the future if necessary. So we still cannot judge, because we don’t know what Iran will decide.”
Blinken concluded: “I hope they ultimately conclude not to pursue this program. But I worry they might not and could eventually rebuild it in a more dangerous form.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has stated that while U.S. and Israeli attacks damaged Iran’s nuclear facilities, the country’s nuclear knowledge is indigenous and technology itself cannot be destroyed by bombing.
He also emphasized that the Iranian nuclear issue has no military solution.
