Trump's Running Out of Time

An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report contains a damning indictment of Iranian cheating on their nuclear non-proliferation agreements and increases the likelihood that Israel will soon take action against the Iranian nuclear facilities. According to the IAEA, Iran is working hard to produce several nuclear weapons which, we can assume, will almost certainly be used against Israel and to blackmail other Middle East states.

Ed Morrissey at HotAir.com gives us a summary of Reuters' report on the IAEA's findings.

Iran carried out secret nuclear activities with material not declared to the U.N. nuclear watchdog at three locations that have long been under investigation, the watchdog said in a wide-ranging, confidential report to member states seen by Reuters.

The findings in the "comprehensive" International Atomic Energy Agency report requested by the agency's 35-nation Board of Governors in November pave the way for a push by the United States, Britain, France and Germany for the board to declare Iran in violation of its non-proliferation obligations.

A resolution would infuriate Iran and could further complicate nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington.

Using the IAEA report's findings, the four Western powers plan to submit a draft resolution for the board to adopt at its next meeting the week of June 9, diplomats say. It would be the first time in almost 20 years Iran has formally been found in non-compliance.

Morrissey notes that a separate IAEA report warned that Iran may be just about ready to build as many as nine nuclear weapons:

A separate IAEA report sent to member states on Saturday said Iran’s stock of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% of weapons grade, had grown by roughly half to 408.6 kg. That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick.

Approximately 42 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium is theoretically enough to produce one atomic bomb, if enriched further to 90%, according to the watchdog.

The IAEA report raised a stern warning, saying that Iran is now “the only non-nuclear-weapon state to produce such material” — something the agency said was of “serious concern.”

So what will the Trump administration do? If they allow Iran to continue to enrich Uranium they'll look just as weak as did both Obama and Biden. If they support an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities they risk a broader war, although that risk is much lessened by the diminished capabilities of Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis.

Another question: Does Israel have the capability to actually destroy all the facilities that need to be destroyed? If not, will the U.S. help?

No one wants more war in the region, but the Islamists in Iran are forcing the issue. War will come either now when Iran is at its weakest or it will come later when Iran has nuclear weapons. As Machiavelli wrote centuries ago in The Prince, "War cannot be avoided. It can only be postponed to the advantage of the other side."