Oh look! A 'think tank' manufacturing consent to bomb Iran with tactical nukes

Trump is considering a tactical nuke attack on Iranian soil which will have apocalyptic consequences

On the 19th of June, the Atlantic Council published this hit piece against Iran, by Jonathan Panikoff.

The Israel-Iran war is coming down to a single question: What should be done about the hardened Iranian nuclear facility at Fordow? If Israel lacks the capability to destroy it, and if a diplomatic solution is not realistic, then US President Donald Trump should authorize the US bombing of Fordow and other remaining nuclear program infrastructure in Iran.

But doing so must come with a condition: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declares Israel’s objectives accomplished and ends the war.

There are three options to end Iran’s nuclear program. The first and most preferred is diplomacy. If Iran is willing to come back to the negotiating table, as Trump has sought—and as Iran reportedly might be willing to do, despite public protestations—then it must do so from a starting point of giving up its right to domestic enrichment and agreeing to dismantle all of its nuclear sites. Moreover, dismantlement should be undertaken by international experts, not by Iranian personnel.

The second option is Israel striking on its own. Already in this war the world has seen Israel’s military and operational ingenuity. If it exists for Fordow, as well, then Israel should be responsible for applying it without further aid or support from the United States, despite Israel preferring assistance from Washington.

There is a third possibility. If Israel lacks the capability to destroy Fordow and if diplomacy is insufficient, then the United States will have to make a choice to bomb Fordow or not. It should bomb.

From The Guardian:

The effectiveness of GBU-57s has been a topic of deep contention at the Pentagon since the start of Trump’s term, according to two defense officials who were briefed that perhaps only a tactical nuclear weapon could be capable of destroying Fordow because of how deeply it is located.

Emphasis added. The Atlantic Council is following the road map set out by the Brookings Institute back in 2009 - Which Path to Persia: Options for a New American Strategy towards Iran.

This is taken from an article by Brian Berletic , summarising the ‘chapters’ of the Brookings strategy paper:

There are entire chapters regarding “diplomatic options” which laid out plans to appear to engage with Iran in a deal regarding its nuclear program, unilaterally abandoning the plan, and then using its failure as a pretext to apply further pressure on the Iranian government and economy (Chapter 2: Tempting Tehran: The Engagement Option).

There are chapters that detail methods of creating unrest within Iran, both by using US government-funded opposition groups (Chapter 6: The Velvet Revolution: Supporting a Popular Uprising) and even through supporting US State Department-listed foreign terrorist organizations like the Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) (Chapter 7: Inspiring an Insurgency: Supporting Iranian Minority and Opposition Groups).

Other chapters detail a direct US invasion (Chapter 3: Going All the Way: Invasion) and a smaller scale air campaign (Chapter 4: The Osiraq Option: Airstrikes).

Finally, a whole chapter is dedicated to using Israel to trigger a war the US could then appear reluctant to wade into afterwards, (Chapter 5: Leave it to Bibi: Allowing or Encouraging an Israeli Military Strike).

Now the Atlantic Council steps in to manufacture consent for the use of American tactical nukes against a country that does not have nuclear weapons - just as Iraq did not have WMD, or Syria did not use chemical weapons against the Syrian people, or Ghadaffi’s troops were not on a viagra-fuelled rape spree in Benghazi.

In 1981, the Zionists bombed the Osirak alleged plutonium reactor in Iraq - with war jets from the US.

As a result the Begin Doctrine dictates that any Arab nation that threatens Israel does not have the right to develop nuclear weapons. Recently, it has been proven that the nuclear watchdog, the IAEA have been feeding information to Israel about the Iranian nuclear program - they have also gone on record to inform us that Iran is not developing a nuclear weapon. Only AFTER they had found that Iran is ‘not compliant with its obligations’ - cock and bull story that also manufactured consent for the Israeli aggression against Iran.

On the same day that Atlantic Council published their fabricated narrative to facilitate the use of American force against Iran - outlets like the New Republic also came out to nudge public support for these strikes:

The Trump administration is reportedly considering nuking Iran.

The Guardian on Wednesday claimed that the U.S. military has reservations regarding the success of using a bunker-buster bomb, a nonnuclear weapon, to eliminate Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility, buried deep in a mountain. Two defense officials were reportedly briefed that only a tactical nuclear weapon could reach the facility, but The Guardian noted that Trump is not considering using a tactical nuke.

On Thursday, Fox News senior White House correspondent Jaqui Heinrich reported that the White House told her otherwise.

“I was just told by a top official here that none of that report is true, that none of the options are off the table, and the U.S. military is very confident that bunker busters could get the job done at Fordo,” Heinrich said.

What might this lead to in the region?

Iran is surrounded by US bases. If the US should attack Iran directly and with tactical nukes, there will be an immediate reaction from all Resistance factions in the region - Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon and even from factions inside Saudi Arabia/Hijaz (Qatif Brigades). The following was written by Enemy Watch on Telegram with reference to the US/Zionist threats to assassinate Ayatollah Khamenei but it applies to the use of tactical nukes or any aggression against Iran by the US alliance:

Those who are crafting narratives and planning actions must understand: even contemplating the assassination of the supreme authority of the Shia world who holds a position second only to their Twelfth Imam along with targeting regional communities and the resistance front, would not merely be catastrophic. It would unleash a doomsday scenario.

The statement by Ayatollah Sistani confirmed that the ongoing aggression could lead to deadly consequences for the entire region. Ayatollah Arafi (H) warned a potential collective jihad fatwa if the escalation continues. Ayatollah Nouri Hamedani (H) cautioned that the situation could spiral into dangerous escalation, while Ayatollah Makarim Shirazi (H) issued a stern warning about the widespread havoc that could ensue.

Ayatollah al-Uzma Sayyid Muhammad Taqi al-Modarresi condemned it as “an attack on all Muslims” and warned that such a move would plunge the region into uncontrollable chaos. Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi emphasized that “the existence of the Leadership… is a sacrosanct principle of our creed” and called for decisive action to ensure that the enemy never dares such threats again. Shaykh Akram al-Kaabi, head of Harakat al-Nujaba in Iraq, issued a fiery warning:

“If you so much as touch a single hair on the head of the nation’s guardian, Imam Khamenei, then… all of your direct and indirect interests will become legitimate targets for us.”

He declared Trump “the face of Dajjal,” vowing generations of revenge and labeling the threat a red line for the entire Islamic resistance. Shaykh Naim Qassim, Deputy Secretary General of Hezbollah, called the U.S. threat against Imam Khamenei “an attack on all the peoples of the region and the free people of the world,” affirming that Iran’s leadership remains a beacon of faith, resistance, and sovereignty. Hajj Abu Ali al-Askari, senior commander of Kata’ib Hezbollah in Iraq, issued a strategic warning:

“If the United States enters this war, the madman Trump will lose every trillion he dreams of seizing from this region.”

Yemen’s leader Sayyid Abdul Malik al-Houthi (H) has reaffirmed the country’s commitment to intensify attacks in response to ongoing threats...

Hezbollah has mentioned that few nation does not who Imam Khamenei truly is. The Shia Council of Lebanon called the attack a direct threat to Islamic sanctity and dignity, a sentiment echoed by the Hawza of Najaf.

Iraqi Hezbollah warned threatening Imam Khamenei's likeness leads to devastating consequences, they said that they know Iran has the capability to sustain long-term missile attacks against Israel and can target U.S. interests in West Asia. Any American involvement in the conflict, he stated, would bring unprecedented destruction.

Iranian Government said:

If the enemy dares to harm the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, it will face widespread and uncontrollable reactions from the peoples of the region. Any foolish act targeting the Leader will place all of the enemy’s interests in the region in serious danger.

The address from the Muslim Brotherhood to Imam Khamenei (H) should be widely circulated and emphasized across all media outlets, and presented to political analysts. The enemy and its planners must now understand: this is not merely the beginning the dark storm has already arrived, and what lies ahead may be even more catastrophic.

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi has stated on X:

The Arak Heavy Water Reactor—a facility under comprehensive IAEA safeguards and under construction in strict accordance with the technical specifications agreed upon in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to eliminate any proliferation risk—was bombed yesterday in broad daylight by the Israeli regime.

As the Security Council convenes today, it is imperative that it upholds and enforces its own Resolution 487-adopted unanimously in response to the Israeli regime's 1981 attack on Iraq’s nuclear facility.

The language in that resolution is unambiguous: any military attack on nuclear facilities is an assault on the entire IAEA safeguards regime and ultimately the NPT. It applies not only to past actions but also to future conduct, setting a clear legal standard against the use or threat of force targeting safeguarded nuclear installations.

If the Council now fails to act, it must explain to the international community why its legal principles apply only selectively on such a crucial matter. It will also hold ultimate responsibility, along with the Israeli regime, should the global nonproliferation regime one day collapse.

Reuters is joining in also, producing fabricated reports on the capitulation of Iranian officials and the recommencement of negotiations. As Ayatollah Khamenei said:

Telling the Iranian nation to surrender is not a rational statement.

The sane voices are in the East, not in the West. Dr. Victor Gao, Vice President of the Center for China and Globalization, condemns Israel’s military strikes on Iran, calling it a “war of aggression.” He says China deplores the attacks and urges both Israel and the US to stop escalation. Gao defends China’s relationship with Iran, rejects US sanctions, and warns that any further aggression could destabilize the entire region.

If Trump green lights this insanity - we enter a new stage in what will eventually be a global war. The use of tactical nukes to destroy an alleged nuclear facility could release deadly contamination across the region. I am no nuclear scientist but I am anxious that the Zionist rabid regime is leading the US into a war they cannot win but which will plunge the world into an eventual oblivion from which there will be no return.

As Lebanese political analyst and journalist, Marwa Osman has written on X:

When diplomacy becomes a decoy for genocide, and journalism becomes a call to mass murder…

Jonathan Panikoff openly advocates bombing Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, a sovereign site, on AtlanticCouncil just because Trump’s fake diplomacy didn’t give Israel the upper hand. This isn’t analysis. It’s criminal incitement.

Let’s be clear:

Israel is losing this war. Its “Iron Dome” is cracking under pressure, scrambling to intercept the rain of missiles from Iranian forces that multiply by the day.

America, if it listens to bloodthirsty warmongers like Panikoff, will only dig a deeper grave, not for Iran, but for the sons and daughters of its imperial army, whose flag-draped coffins will come home as a grim receipt for endless war.

Calling for airstrikes on another country because your apartheid proxy failed to win is not policy, it’s terrorism in a suit and tie jonny boy.

We see you, Jonathan. And history will remember which side chose life and which side begged for annihilation.

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