Let's End the Iranian Nuclear Fantasy
- Rick de la Torre
- Jun 18
- 3 min read
Tehran is burning. Not metaphorically—literally. Its centrifuges are mangled scrap. Its air defenses are rubble. And its regime, long cushioned by Western self-delusion and Chinese backchannels, now finds itself exposed, hunted, and afraid. Israel didn’t just strike Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. It blew a hole through the myth that the clerical regime is untouchable.
For years, diplomacy with Iran resembled a Monty Python skit—European envoys politely negotiating with a regime chanting “Death to America” while enriching uranium under a mountain. We told ourselves the mullahs were rational actors. That sanctions would temper ambition. That Tehran wanted peace, not power. That fantasy just ended.
The Israeli operation—relentless, precise, and jaw-droppingly audacious—demolished Iran’s Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities, killed 14 of 15 key nuclear scientists, and wiped out a quarter of its IRGC high command . Mossad operatives smuggled drone parts into Iran by truck, suitcase, and sea container. Teams of operatives—many Iranian dissidents—wiped out air defenses and missile launchers before Israeli jets even crossed the border. This wasn’t a raid. It was a surgical dismemberment.
The regime is now in panic mode. Six IRGC commanders have already been replaced, hopefully life insurance policies are up-to-date. Their domestic repression apparatus is scrambling to arrest “neighbors” and flood the news cycle with stories about catching Mossad spies—most of which are probably fake. The social contract, already eroded by decades of economic decay and corruption, has collapsed. Khamenei’s biggest challenge now isn’t Israel. It’s survival.
This moment is a gift. A genuine chance to end Iran’s nuclear threat—not through imaginary red lines or diplomatic photo-ops, but by finishing the job. And that means the United States has to act.
Only the U.S. military can destroy Fordow, the uranium enrichment site buried under a mountain outside Qom. Israel lacks the 30,000-pound Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) and the B-2 bombers to deliver them. The site is still standing. And as long as it is, the regime can eventually reconstitute its program. Maybe not next month. But in six, twelve, or twenty-four. That’s how this ends if we do nothing.
The Trump administration has signaled conflicting intentions—praising Israel’s strike while floating Putin as a mediator . That’s not deterrence. That’s confusion. Iran’s leadership needs clarity: roll back the nuclear program to zero enrichment, or watch your last sanctuary turn to glass. The President doesn’t need to put boots on the ground. He doesn’t need a war. He needs to let Israeli pilots fly American bombers—or order a U.S. strike himself. One and done.
Some advisors fear escalation. As if Iran hasn’t been escalating since 1979. They’ve killed American Marines, plotted assassinations on U.S. soil, and fired missiles at U.S. bases. The only time they showed restraint was after we toppled Saddam. Fear works. Deterrence works. Appeasement doesn’t.
This is also about China. Over 90% of Iranian oil goes to Chinese refineries, many via a ghost fleet of sanction-dodging tankers. Tehran gets paid in renminbi, spends it on Chinese goods, and pretends it’s still a sovereign nation. Cutting off Iran’s oil exports would hit China where it hurts. Let them feel the costs of underwriting America’s enemies.
Helping Israel finish the job isn’t just about Iran. It’s about reclaiming U.S. credibility. After Biden’s Afghanistan withdrawal, after Russia’s gambit in Ukraine, after the Houthis fired on U.S. ships with near impunity, we finally have a chance to reset the global chessboard. Take it.
Israel has cracked open the vault. All we have to do is walk through the door. Or we can hesitate, wait for Tehran to recover, and watch the centrifuges spin again—this time with Russian engineers, Chinese financing, and North Korean designs.
This isn’t about war. It’s about resolve.
Because if the United States won’t help a loyal ally eliminate a nuclear threat in uncontested airspace, Beijing will rightly conclude we won’t lift a finger for Taiwan.
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