LOS ANGELES.–President Donald Trump, 79, weighs a big decision whether or not to join Israel’s war with Iran, primarily providing B-2 Stealth Bombes to drop bunker-busting GBU/57 bombs on Iran’s underground Fordow nuclear site. Russian President Vladimir Putin, 72, expressed concerns over a nuclear disaster, especially if the GBU/57 penetrates well below the surface to Iran’s 60% uranium enrichment stockpiles. So far, there’s been no reported radiation leaks from any of Israel’s targeted strikes on other Iranian nuclear enrichment sites. “We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation,” said Russia Foreign Minstry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Trump has given himself and Iran two-weeks in which to pursue diplomacy before any final decision has been reached on whether to use the GBU/57 bunker-buster bomb.
Trump wants to keep all his options open but knows the international community is currently galvanized around ending the seven-day war between Israel and Iran. Israeli Prime-Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been committed to ending the nuclear threat to Israel posed by Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. Nuclear experts have wondered for years about Iran’s breakout time to a nuclear bomb, something denied by the Ayatollah’s regime. Nuclear experts can’t figure out why the Ayatollah would enrich uranium to 60%, well-beyond the 3.67% needed or nuclear fuel rods to run nuclear power reactors. Nuclear experts are divided about Iran’s ultimate goals. Netanyahu said he didn’t care about all the speculation about Iran’s bomb-making program, he just wants to mitigate any future nuclear threat to Israel. Iran denies that it wants to build an A-bomb.
Putin offered himself to mediate the conflict with Iran, something rejected by Trump and several other European countries because of his ongoing war in Ukraine. EU officials have applied maximum pressure on Putin to end his over three years war with Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it wasn’t up to Trump whether or not to allow Putin to mediate the war with Iran and Israel. “These services can be accepted by countries that are currently directly involved in the conflict,” Peskov said, responding to Trump who said Putin should work on ending the Ukraine War. European Union countries have been making their won overtures to Iran, trying to end the conflict before Trump decides to get involved. Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has expressed increased interest in diplomacy since Israel launched its war June 13 war on Iran.
Zakharova, without specifying the reasons, said U.S. military intervention “would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences.” Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping strongly condemn Israel’s military actions, forgetting that the Ayatollah has waged proxy war against Israel for years. Netanyahu had enough of the Ayatollah’s state-sponsored terrorism that has watched the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas massacre among other attacks over the years on the Jewish State. It’s easy for Russia and China to condemn Israel but what about the unending Iranian-backed proxy wars with Israel? Putin and Xi believe the current hostilities “should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means. Where was Russia and China when Iran was violating the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] warnings about Iran’s nuke program?
Putin acknowledges that Iran has not asked him for any assistance in ending the war with Israel. “Promoting a ceasefire and cessation of hostilities is the top priority. Armed force is not the correct way to resolve international disputes,” Xi said reported by Xinhua. Xi routinely threatens Taiwan with military might, threatening at any time to take over the Taipei-based Republic of China. Trump, for his part, wants to see play out the next two weeks where Iran has plenty of opportunity to go back to the table and sign a new nuke deal. “He actually offered to help mediate, I said: ‘do me a favor, mediate your own,’” referring to the Ukraine War where Putin is under pressure from the European Union to agree to a ceasefire to end the Ukraine War, something that hasn’t happened. Putin at least tried to be helpful, knowing that bombing Fordow could have environmental consequences.
Now that Netanyahu fully exposed Iran’s military weakness, Russia and China want to find a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear enrichment program. No one understands why Iran continues to enrich uranium to 60% well-beyond the 3.67% necessary to fuel nuclear reactors. No foreign power, including Russia and China, acknowledge the Ayatollah’s years-long proxy war to destroy the Jewish state. Funding Gaza’s Hamas terrorists, Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels has been an act of war against Israel. All the talk now is about diplomacy but where were any of these countries when Iran was spinning nearly weapons grade uranium? If Russia, China or the EU have any clout, they’ll convince the Ayatollah to go back to the table and sign a new nuke deal to avoid more hostilities. Only by the IAEA tightly supervising Iran’s nuke program can Israel be reassured.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.