If necessary, hit Iran nukes again

Iran’s terrorist-supporting ayatollahs would be foolish to ignore the warning implicit in the green light Donald Trump has given Israel to launch another attack if Tehran resumes its march towards nuclear weapons. The American President has made it clear that his preference following the June 22 strike on Iran’s nuclear sites by US B-2 stealth bombers would be a diplomatic settlement, with Iran strictly observing a future without uranium enrichment.

But with the US Defence Intelligence Agency warning that while the June 22 strikes significantly damaged the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites, they did not destroy them completely, Mr Trump’s initial optimism that Iran’s nuclear goals had been “obliterated” appears premature.

US reports suggest that even the agencies responsible for building the “bunker-buster” bombs dropped by the US have questioned whether they reached their targets. Israel has expressed concern about what it believes are deeply buried stocks of already enriched uranium at one of the sites that was hit, warning that it is retrievable and usable.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during his visit to Washington last week, warned Mr Trump that if Iran resumed moving towards building nuclear weapons, Israel would “carry out further military strikes”. Mr Trump’s support for Israel, should it do so, should be heeded by the ayatollahs. Whatever is needed to ensure Iran does not get nuclear weapons must be done. Otherwise there will never be Middle East peace or an end to Iranian terror that threatens the rest of the world.