(RightWing.org) – The Islamic Republic of Iran “continued to be the leading state sponsor of terrorism,” according to the Country Reports on Terrorism 2021 (the most recent available on the State Department website). For that reason alone, the words of a well-respected author of numerous books on foreign and defense policy should be heeded by governments around the world.
Drums of War
Con Coughlin authored a piece for The Telegraph published on March 9 in which he warned of signals that seem to suggest “Iran is gearing up to attack Britain and the West.” One of his main concerns is a March 4 report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which disclosed the agency made an unannounced inspection of the Persian nation’s Fordow nuclear enrichment plant, where they made a disturbing discovery.
The report states that samples taken of “high enriched uranium (HEU) particles with enrichment levels of up to 83.7% U-235,” exceed the Iranians’ declarations. Uranium is considered to be weapons-grade when it reaches the 90% threshold, and experts are concerned that Iran can get to that point in less than two weeks.
Dr. Colin Kahl is the current Under Secretary of Defense for Policy for President Joe Biden, and in his March 1 testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, he said for Iran to make “one bomb’s worth of fissile material” would take about 12 days. When combined with Coughlin’s second point, that the terrorist nation has been frantically working on ballistic missiles capable of reaching Europe, one can see why several countries might be on edge.
Kahl made an attempt to pin responsibility for Iran’s abilities in enrichment on former President Donald Trump’s pullout from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) secretly negotiated by former President Barack Obama, his Iranian-born advisor Valerie Jarrett, and then-Secretary of State John Kerry. However, as Congressman Jim Banks (R-IN) noted, it was a “dangerous deal,” for which Obama sent the terrorist country $400 million in cash on an airplane in the dark of night, plus access to funds frozen by congressional order estimated to have totaled as much as $150 billion.
IAEA head Rafael Grossi reportedly said any military attack on Iran’s nuclear program would be illegal, even with evidence the country has refined uranium far past any non-military need. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was having none of that, noting that Iran openly and repeatedly advocates for the destruction of the Jewish nation-state, claiming they have the right to protect themselves. This has led Biden to send top military officials on a surprise visit to Jerusalem out of concern the Israelis could launch a preemptive strike.
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