{"id":310153,"date":"2025-06-10T06:54:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T06:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=310153"},"modified":"2025-06-11T21:06:36","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T21:06:36","slug":"trump-threatens-to-bomb-iran-to-smithereens-for-playing-by-the-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=310153","title":{"rendered":"Trump Threatens to Bomb Iran to Smithereens for “Playing By the Rules”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mike Whitney \u2013 The Unz Review June 9, 2025<\/strong><\/h1>\n

\u201cIf they don\u2019t make a deal, there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.\u201d President Donald Trump, NBC News<\/em> Interview<\/a>, March 30, 2025<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump is threatening to launch air strikes on Iran for activities that are approved under the terms of Iran\u2019s treaty obligations. <\/strong>This is not a matter on which there should be any debate. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) explicitly grants all parties, including Iran, the \u201cinalienable right\u201d to develop, research, produce, and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. This \u201cinalienable right\u201d includes the enriching of uranium.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Trump either doesn\u2019t understand what a \u201ctreaty\u201d is or thinks its terms should not apply to Iran. For the sake of clarity, a treaty is a formal, legally binding agreement between sovereign states that is governed by international law.<\/strong> It establishes mutual obligations, rights, or rules on matters such as trade, security, nuclear non-proliferation, or environmental protection. A treaty is not optional and cannot be repealed by executive fiat. <\/strong>States that ratify treaties are legally obligated to comply with their terms in good faith. Political leaders, as representatives of the state, are expected to uphold these obligations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This is all very straightforward which is why we find so it hard to understand why Trump is threatening a country that is clearly \u201cin compliance\u201d with its obligations under the NPT. Here\u2019s what Trump said on Friday on Air Force One:<\/p>\n

\u201cThey won\u2019t be enriching. If they enrich, then we\u2019re going to have to do it the other way\u2026 (air strikes) And I don\u2019t really want to do it the other way but we\u2019re going to have no choice. There\u2019s not going to be enrichment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has no legal authority to determine whether Iran can enrich uranium or not. It\u2019s simply not his decision to make. Even Grok\u2014with its obvious pro-Israel bias\u2014understands this. Check it out:<\/p>\n

Donald Trump, whether as a private citizen or as U.S. president, has no legal authority under international law to demand that Iran stop enriching uranium.<\/strong> Iran, as a sovereign state and signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), has the right under Article IV to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, including uranium enrichment<\/strong>, provided it complies with its safeguards obligations under Article III and its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). No individual state, including the United States, has the unilateral legal authority under international law to prohibit Iran from exercising this right.<\/strong> Any demand from Trump would be a political or diplomatic action, not a legally binding directive, unless backed by a UN Security Council resolution, which would require agreement from other permanent members (e.g., Russia, China). Grok<\/p>\n

Trita Parsi explains how Trump has adopted John Bolton\u2019s Iran policy<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

Also, there is no provision in international law or under the UN Charter that allows one country to attack another country based on its own subjective perception of what \u2018may or may not\u2019 constitute a threat. That\u2019s insanity, and it flies in the face of the UN\u2019s efforts to ensure peace and security through collective action and multilateralism. Besides, there is no credible legal case against Iran, because Iran is not violating the rules. What the MSM stubbornly refuses to tell the public is that Iran has no nuclear weapons and no nuclear weapons program. And\u2014according to the IAEA\u2014Iran has been \u201cin compliance\u201d since 2003 and has never diverted nuclear material to a weapons program. <\/strong>In other words, there\u2019s no legal case against Iran at all. Zilch.<\/p>\n

So, what is the point of Trump\u2019s fulminations? Why is he threatening a peaceful country that is clearly \u201cplaying by the rules\u201d?<\/p>\n

Did we mention that the Trump campaign was given over $100 million by wealthy Zionist donors whose driving ambition is to topple the government in Tehran and absorb territorial Iran into Greater Israel?<\/p>\n

Could that be a factor? Could that explain why Trump convened 5 separate meetings with Iranian negotiators without once mentioning the issue of \u201cnuclear enrichment\u201d,<\/strong> but then\u2014Surprise, Surprise\u2014did a swift 180 after which he made \u201czero enrichment\u201d the foundational demand for which he has declared unflinching support?<\/p>\n

How do you explain that sudden about-face? Is Trump pursuing an Israeli agenda or putting \u201cAmerica First\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

And why would Trump stake-out such a flimsy, untenable position when he knows that enrichment is the one provision in the NPT on which Iran will never budge?<\/p>\n

The obvious answer is that Trump doesn\u2019t want an agreement; he does not want to resolve the issue peacefully. That\u2019s why he focused on the one issue on which there is no flexibility, figuring (quite rightly) that enrichment can be used as a pretext for war. And that\u2019s the goal, war with Iran.<\/p>\n

(Readers who have been following developments with Iran closely may recall that Trump\u2019s original demand was that \u201cIran cannot have a nuclear weapon\u201d. (Iran has agreed to that demand.) But now, he has sneakily changed the wording to \u201cno enrichment\u201d<\/strong> as if the two things are the same. Naturally, the pro-Israel media has not drawn attention to the president\u2019s sleight-of-hand fearing that it would reveal the deceptive game he is playing. But, the fact remains, Trump used the negotiations to look like he genuinely wanted peace, and then quickly moved the goalposts as the \u201ctalks\u201d progressed<\/strong>. Bottom line: A peaceful settlement was never Trump\u2019s objective.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/div>\n

This is from an article at The Times of Israel<\/em> (June 8, 2025:<\/p>\n

Iran conducted and covered up \u201ca number\u201d of implosion tests that are key to developing a nuclear weapon in 2003,<\/strong> an analysis of the International Atomic Energy Agency\u2019s May 31 report on the Islamic Republic\u2019s nuclear program reveals.<\/p>\n

According to the Washington, DC-based Institute for Science and International Security think tank, which analyzed and published key points from the IAEA report, the activities carried out by Iran were in preparation for a \u201ccold test\u201d in the development of a nuclear bomb<\/strong>, which involves the creation of \u201ca fully assembled nuclear device with a surrogate core of natural or depleted uranium rather than weapons-grade uranium. Times of Israel<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This is how desperate the Trump team (and their Israeli allies) are to cast suspicion on Iran\u2019s perfectly legal activities. They\u2019ve actually dug up the details of research that was conducted in 2003. (a period during which Iran has admitted to \u201caspects of a nuclear weapons program.\u201d) Notice that the IAEA report does not suggest that anything illegal is going on today, or that there is any indication that Iran has an active nuclear weapons program, or even that they are diverting nuclear material to some other location. No<\/strong>. What they\u2019re referring to happened more than two decades ago. It\u2019s a joke.<\/p>\n

And the same rule applies to the uranium that has been enriched to 60% which the Iranians have admitted to many times in the past. They\u2019re not hiding anything; they\u2019re looking for sanction\u2019s relief, that\u2019s all.<\/strong> Turns out, they don\u2019t like economic strangulation. Are you surprised?<\/p>\n

Iran started enriching uranium at higher levels when Trump broke an earlier treaty<\/strong> (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA) that was hammered out by Obama, and which was the most exhaustive and stringent nuclear agreement in history<\/a>. <\/strong>When Trump walked out in 2018, Iran started enriching at 60% thinking they could use it as a bargaining chip in future negotiations with the administration.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it hasn\u2019t worked out that way, mainly because Israel wants the \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d policy to continue until they are ready to launch aerial attacks on targets in Iran. So, the sanctions have remained in place.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n

By the way, under the terms of the NPT, Iran is allowed to enrich uranium to 60% as the treaty does not explicitly set a maximum enrichment level for non-nuclear-weapon states. <\/strong>This is a fact, but it is a fact that is omitted in 100% of the MSM coverage of the issue. Why would that be?<\/p>\n

Iran Needs Nuclear Energy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Many people believe that a country with vast oil resources like Iran has no need for nuclear energy, but that\u2019s simply not true. Much of Iran\u2019s electricity generation takes place at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant,<\/strong> Iran\u2019s primary nuclear power facility, that uses low-enriched uranium to generate significant electrical power<\/strong> and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

Iran also uses nuclear technology to produce radioisotopes for medical diagnostics and treatment<\/strong>,\u2026 widely used in cancer diagnosis and imaging. Iran claims its nuclear program supports healthcare by providing isotopes for over 1 million patients annually.<\/p>\n

Iran also uses nuclear energy in industrial applications, agriculture, water resource management, scientific research, cancer treatment, technology and radioisotope production. <\/strong>The fact is, no country would join the NPT if they were denied the \u201cpeaceful use\u201d of nuclear power. Why would they?<\/p>\n

Finally\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Americans should realize that nothing one reads about Iran in the western media can be trusted; it is all poisoned with the same, vile anti-Iran hatred and bias. Since the 1979 Revolution to today, US policy towards Iran has been an unbroken chain of relentless hectoring, belligerence and demonization. Washington has never treated Iran with the respect it deserves nor will it in the future. That\u2019s because\u2014on a fundamental level\u2014the entire US political class despises Iran for asserting sovereign control over their-own vast resources and for failing to kowtow to their mucky-muck overlords in Washington.<\/strong> That\u2019s the real issue; Iran has refused to cave in to Uncle Sam\u2019s diktats which is why it must be punished with economic strangulation, \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d and, inevitably, war. That is how America treats the peasants in the provinces, with an iron fist.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi summed up Iran\u2019s approach at a recent ceremony for the late Ayatollah Khomeini. He said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main foundation of Iran\u2019s foreign policy is based on the principle of renouncing foreign domination.<\/strong> Trump\u2019s ban on enrichment is itself domination, and this is unacceptable to the Iranian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

To its credit, Iran has never \u2018given an inch\u2019 to Washington\u2019s endless badgering and saber-rattling. They have stuck by their principles and defended their right as a free country to choose their own development model, their own political system and their own collective future without bullying or coercion.<\/p>\n

Iran should be applauded for shrugging off Washington\u2019s threats and intimidation, and for its unflinching commitment to the principle of sovereign independence. They have preserved their dignity through 45 years of nonstop hostility and antagonism.<\/p>\n

Bravo, Iran.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Trump doesn\u2019t really want an accord with Tehran. That\u2019s why Trump\u2019s original demand was that \u201cIran cannot have a nuclear weapon\u201d. (Iran has agreed to that demand.) But now, he has sneakily changed the wording to \u201cno enrichment\u201d as if the two things are the same<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":310154,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-310153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-Current_Affairs","category-Iran"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=310153"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":310157,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310153\/revisions\/310157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/310154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=310153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=310153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=310153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}