Iran's Race to Nuclear Bombs: The Mullahs Have Got to Go

Both the Iranian people and the entire region need to be freed from a future of tyranny. The future of a nuclear-armed Iran, run by mullahs on a mission, must be averted; the opportunity will not be there forever. Pictured: A Fattah hypersonic ballistic missile is displayed during the annual military parade in Tehran, on September 22, 2023. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)

This year, thanks to the relentless -- and often maliciously vilified -- efforts of Israel standing alone, like David against Goliath, to save the West from an autocratic tyranny, the Iranian regime has at last been facing significant setbacks. Israel, unthanked, has weakened Iran and its proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas, diminished their influence and destabilized their plan to wipe Israel -- and after that Western civilization -- off the map.

Compounding this, Iran's longstanding ally, Bashar al-Assad of Syria, collapsed, further isolating Iran's regime. These events have collectively dealt a heavy blow to Iran's strategic leverage and regional ambitions. Complacency, however, would be a grave mistake.

History has shown that underestimating one's adversary can lead to disastrous consequences. Now, more than ever, Iran's regime is desperate to secure its survival by accelerating their pursuit of nuclear weapons. With its allies and proxies crumbling, nuclear armament appears to be the regime's last hope for maintaining their grip on power and entrenching their rule.

In addition, now that Syria has been closed off as a supply route to rearm Hezbollah, Iran is reportedly considering weapons airlifts directly to Lebanon to resupply Hezbollah, so they both can continue their shared goal of eliminating Israel. The mullahs have got to go. So long as they remain in power, the chances for enduring peace in the region is zero.

In recent weeks, Iran has significantly ramped up its nuclear program, raising alarms -- finally! -- across the international community. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, has all but acknowledged that reviving the 2015 JCPOA "nuclear deal" is futile: Iran is now effectively a nuclear threshold state. IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi stated this month, "It has uranium at 60% — 90% is military grade — and is thus practically at the same level as nuclear-armed states."

Even traditionally cautious actors such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany have expressed concern. In a rare joint statement, these nations called on Iran to "reverse its nuclear escalation," emphasizing that there is "no credible civilian justification" for Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile. They warned that Iran's unprecedented stockpile now enables it to "rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons."

Despite these alarming developments, the West so far seems committed only to "diplomatic tools" to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. The joint statement from the three European countries repeated their determination to "use all diplomatic tools to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon." Good luck with that.

Unfortunately, we have already repeatedly seen the ineffectiveness of diplomacy with Iran. Its leadership has openly admitted that its nuclear program has always been geared toward developing weapons, undermining any subsequent pretenses of peaceful intentions. Diplomatic negotiations, including the 2015 nuclear deal, have merely provided Tehran with the time to advance its nuclear ambitions – as the deal's "sunset clauses" disastrously allowed.

The greatest problems now are political will and time. Should Iran announce that it has developed a nuclear bomb, the geopolitical landscape will have irreversibly shifted. Iran would achieve a level of invulnerability that comes with nuclear deterrence, enabling the regime to act with even greater aggression and disregard for international norms. Domestically, the regime could intensify its oppression, crushing any dissent with even more brutal efficiency. Internationally, Iran could equip its terrorist proxies with nuclear weapons, rendering them virtually untouchable, as well.

The implications for global security are worse than chilling: an extremist regime armed with nuclear weapons, openly calling for the annihilation of Israel and advancing anti-American and anti-Western objectives worldwide. This is a regime that has already launched hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel, the "Little Satan" a country the size of New Jersey; what would stop it from using a nuclear bomb? Iran's former President Ali Akbar Hashem Rafsanjani targeted Israel more than a decade ago as a one-bomb country.

In addition, Iran's possible willingness to share its nuclear technology with like-minded dictators and terror groups in Latin America and other regions poses a threat to global security, not to mention the nuclear arms race that would doubtless follow in the Middle East.

Diplomacy, to the surprise of no one except perhaps the Obama and Biden administrations, has failed. The time for half-measures has run out. The West must not only impose the harshest sanctions imaginable, targeting every facet of Iran's economy; at the same time, it must above all support the Iranian people, who have long suffered under this brutal regime and yearn for freedom and democratic governance.

Iran's recent losses have left the regime clinging to the hope that nuclear weapons will enable it to secure its reign and dominate the Middle East, then the rest of the world, using Venezuela and the Caribbean to incapacitate the "Great Satan," the United States.

Allowing Iran to succeed in these endeavors is not a great idea. Both the Iranian people and the entire region need to be freed from a future of tyranny. The future of a nuclear-armed Iran, run by mullahs on a mission, must be averted; the opportunity will not be there forever.

Dr. Majid Rafizadeh, is a scholar, strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated analyst, political scientist, and board member of Harvard International Review. He has authored several books on the US Foreign Policy and Islam. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu