October 1, 2024 | The Wall Street Journal
Not Too Late to Stop Iran’s Nuclear Program
Will the U.S. do anything to prevent the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism from acquiring the world’s deadliest weapon?
October 1, 2024 | The Wall Street Journal
Not Too Late to Stop Iran’s Nuclear Program
Will the U.S. do anything to prevent the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism from acquiring the world’s deadliest weapon?
Iran is advancing toward a nuclear bomb while Americans are preoccupied with electoral politics and Israel is distracted with battling Iran’s proxies in Gaza and Lebanon (“Iran is Waiting for a President Harris” by Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh, op-ed, Sept. 24). But it isn’t too late for the U.S. to refocus on, and likely stop, Iran’s nuclear program.
Sen. Lindsey Graham has been encouraging the Biden administration to produce a long-delayed report by the Director of National Intelligence on Iran’s progress. While the unclassified version of that report is itself concerning, Mr. Graham said the classified version made him “very worried” that Iran “could use these three or four months before our election to sprint to a nuclear weapon” and warned, “we have to put them on notice that cannot happen.”
In an Aug. 6 Journal op-ed (“Three Ways to Confront Iran”), Sen. Graham wrote, “I urge my congressional colleagues to read the classified version. It will put this threat into chilling perspective.” Unfortunately, the DNI report’s warning appears not to have been heeded by either the administration or Congress. There is little to no evidence of recent action to more robustly deter and hinder Iran’s nuclear program.
A recent study by Brad Bowman, Behnam Ben Taleblu and me recommended two dozen specific steps that the Biden administration and Congress should quickly take to deter and hinder Iran from making further progress toward a nuclear bomb. The recommendations include strengthening the declared U.S. commitment to use force to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, U.S. military exercises and deployments designed to underscore that commitment, bolstering Israel’s capacity to destroy Iran’s nuclear program and wielding U.S. economic leverage over Iran.
History will not look kindly on us if we fail to prevent the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism from acquiring the world’s deadliest weapon.
Orde F. Kittrie is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.