Yes, America Should Bomb Iran
There has never been a better time to deal the Islamic Republic a crippling blow and destroy its nuclear ambitions before they become grim reality.[1]
Chaos in the Middle East has returned, but it may not last long. Over the past few days, Israel has dealt a series of severe, crippling blows to the Iranian regime and its nuclear weaponization aspirations. After taking out Iran’s air defense network last October, the mullahcracy has been largely undefended from aerial assault. Israel’s attack, meant to truly end the immediate threat from Tehran and its nuclear weapons program, was delayed by the Trump administration’s decision to forge ahead with negotiations. During the 60-day negotiating period, Iran continually operated in bad faith, refusing to end its weaponization program and working to accelerate its breakout timeline. On the 61st day, Jerusalem struck, wiping out command and control networks, Iranian military hardware, and accessible nuclear sites like those at Natanz, Isfahan, and Tehran. The barrage has continued for several days, with increasing damage done to these and other military sites by an Israeli Air Force with what seems to be total air superiority. Tehran has struck back, deliberately hitting civilian sites throughout Israel with ballistic missiles. Thankfully, the majority of those projectiles have been intercepted, but casualties are mounting. This war is not slowing down at all.
The United States is at an inflection point when it comes to our strategy to advance American interests in the Middle East. The Trump administration is faced with a choice: double down on the failed Obama/Biden strategy of negotiation and restraining Israel, or defend American interests in a durable way by destroying Tehran’s nuclear program once and for all. When these are the options, the answer must be clear. The best way to defend American interests, undermine our inveterate foe, and protect our regional allies is to deal the Iranian nuclear program a fatal blow.
Before last week, the Iranian nuclear program was closing in on its objective: building an atomic weapon for the totalitarian mullahs to consolidate their rule and extend their regional power. This is the culmination of more than a decade of (mostly) terrible policy toward the Islamic Republic, largely on the part of the Obama and Biden administrations. They sought conciliation with Tehran, despite the clear danger it poses to our interests and security, and gave the mullahs whatever they wanted in search of an elusive deal. The sanctions relief, international legitimacy, and regional support Iran received from those Democratic presidents allowed them to expand their nuclear program, ballistic missile manufacturing, and support for global terrorism. That all culminated in the heinous and barbaric Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent launching of a regional war against the Jewish State.
But the resolve, power, and innovation of the Israelis has completely turned the tide. Iran’s vaunted Axis of Resistance is in shambles, it has failed to succeed in undermining Israeli will, and its nuclear program has been dealt a devastating blow. But not a lethal one – yet. Iran’s most important nuclear infrastructure is buried deep underground at the Fordow site, making it all but impenetrable for the vast majority of airborne systems, even those possessed by our Israeli allies. But not all airborne systems. The United States has the ability, via our most advanced penetrative munitions, to annihilate these underground structures. The Iranian air defense system has been crippled, so America has the ability to launch these attacks with little immediate risk. Combined with continued Israeli bombardment of military and economic sites, this would put the mullahcracy on life support, incentivize domestic unrest in Iran, and significantly reduce the regime’s ability to foment regional chaos. Ending the Iranian nuclear threat would help promote long-term American interests in the Middle East while allowing us to shift focus to other theaters.
Critics may argue against this approach in several ways, but none succeed when confronted with the evidence. First, we have the idea that this would be another ‘forever war’ fought on behalf of Israel and not in America’s direct interests. Besides the fact that the whole idea of ‘forever wars’ is ahistorical, this runs into multiple problems. The conflict would not be one where we seek to overthrow the Iranian regime directly with American troops on the ground a la Iraq, but a targeted operation focused exclusively on crushing the country’s nuclear program. As such, the idea that it would morph into a ‘forever war’ is unfounded. Just as unfounded is the claim that physically ending the Iranian nuclear threat before it metastasizes is not a core American interest, but is being done on behalf of our Israeli friends. This just so happens to be totally wrong. Iran has killed thousands of American soldiers and civilians directly and via its terrorist proxies, it labels us the Great Satan and has as a motto “Death to America,” and it seeks long-range ballistic missiles with which to deliver nuclear payloads as far as the American mainland. Tehran is our enemy – they say so themselves – and they act like it. We should absolutely not allow such a malign entity to achieve nuclear status; just look at how difficult it is to deal with North Korea now that they are a nuclear power. We should not hesitate to use kinetic means to ensure that the same situation is not repeated in the Middle East.
Next, some say that a better approach would be negotiation to end the program. They point to the JCPOA negotiated by President Obama as an exemplary version of this tactic. But that deal was flawed from the start, as it had an inbuilt sunset mechanism which would have eventually allowed Iranian nukes, failed to address any of Tehran’s ballistic missile or terrorist activity, and lifted all major sanctions on the country, allowing it to profit and direct that spending into militaristic action. At the same time, Iran failed to comply with the deal as written, engaging in violations of the contract by secretly enriching uranium past the set limits, building clandestine nuclear facilities outside of the scope of the deal, and refusing to allow inspections of various listed sites. They are not, have never been, and will never be a good faith actor that can be dealt with in any reasonable or durable fashion. They are an anti-American terrorist regime that seeks to kill our citizens, overthrow the world order, and aid our other enemies. We should not negotiate with such people, especially over something as world-historical as a nuclear weapons program.
Lastly, some critics suggest that Iran is a distraction from the real threat, China. They say that all of America’s military power and focus must be on the Pacific, otherwise we will inevitably lose a war against Beijing – striking perhaps a fatal blow to American world power. They argue that we can manage a nuclear Iran alongside our regional partners and cannot afford any distractions from the main event. China is indeed our primary threat and should be prioritized as such. The problem is that our enemies are deeply linked and are working together to achieve their shared aim of destroying the US-led world order. China, Russia, Iran, and their various satrapies across the globe are all pushing against our interests and helping one another along the way. Degrading the oil export capacity and military capabilities of Iran, especially when it comes to nuclear weapons, would only benefit America in a conflict with China. Given the relative simplicity of the task at hand, plus our ability to rely on our Israeli allies to bear much of the responsibility of follow-up strikes, this mission would not be a distraction from the Indo-Pacific. Instead, it could show us to be a serious force to be reckoned with, degrading the Iranian leg of the adversarial stool and potentially providing something of a deterrent for Beijing.
This strategy is not entirely risk-free. We would likely face reprisals from Iran, both directly and via proxies. But Israel has already destroyed or undermined a great deal of the potential countermeasures Tehran could launch. Stopping the nuclearization of the mullahcracy is of paramount importance to American geopolitical interests and national security. We have a chance to accomplish that objective at fairly low cost right now. But it will not stay this way forever. President Trump should act fast and capitalize on this momentous opportunity. Not only would it benefit America, but our regional allies and the oppressed Iranian people, too. There is no better time to act than now.
[1] This is an updated version of an argument I made on this site back in April 2025. The situation has unfolded largely as I predicted, but for US involvement. We shall see if that changes.