Dear editor:

Trump, MAGA and Republicans justify their war of choice by vowing that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon — but “never” here means Trump offered Iran a 20-year moratorium. In 2015 Obama diplomatically obtained a 15-year moratorium with the IAEA and six countries overseeing Iran’s actions (USA, France, China, UK, Russia and Germany — JCPOA). Iran could not develop a nuclear weapon in secret, so bombing it would always stop that, if necessary.

Yet Trump relies on war, stoking fears by telling us to imagine Iran bombing Israel, Europe and the United States. Imagine instead that before Iran could finish building a nuclear weapon, a multinational force would truly dominate Iran.

Imagine instead a revised 2015 JCPOA agreement. In 2018, Netanyahu proved that Iran did not disclose its AMAD nuclear weapons program, which ended six years before JCPOA. Trump blew a golden opportunity to use JCPOA to increase nuclear inspections, limit ballistic missile development and reduce Iran’s proxy support.

Instead, Trump took a rash and hardline approach, withdrawing from the oversight that multinational control had brought, and killing Iran’s military leader in January 2020. Iran’s hardliners responded by enriching uranium to the point where in 2026 a functional nuclear weapon was 12-18 months away. Israel and the U.S. bombed Iran in the midst of nuclear negotiations, causing massive distrust in current talks.

“Iran can never have a nuclear weapon” sounds great. We did this before and can do it again through diplomacy — not with war, death and worldwide chaos.

Dennis Reuter

Powell