If Iran’s nuclear program was not an imminent threat, what motived the US-Israeli attack? Why now? The answer is political opportunity
T
he United States has bombed Iran. Donald Trump announced on Sunday that B2 bombers attacked three nuclear sites including the Fordow nuclear site, sometimes referring to as the crown jewel of Iran’s nuclear program.
As the world waits for Iran’s response, it is worth revisiting events since 12 June, when Israel, with US support, attacked the Islamic Republic. The official reason is nuclear weapons. The real reason I contend is the elimination of the Iran-led Axis of Resistance and establishing Israel regional hegemony over the Middle East with tacit support from Arab autocrats.
According to American and Israeli leaders, Iran was about to construct a nuclear weapon. Israel was forced to engage in a preemptive attack by way of response. “Israel’s very survival” was at stake according to Benjamin Netanyahu while Trump claimed Iran was “very close to having a weapon”. Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of National Intelligence, has now fallen in line. Weeks after testifying before Congress that Iran was not pursuing a bomb, thus undermining Trump’s stated position and embarrassing him politically, she now claims Iran could get a bomb “within weeks”.
