US officials are continuing to express demands that Iran get rid of its
nuclear weapons program. This is a long-standing demand, and Iran is
well aware of it. The problem is Iran doesn’t have such a program, and
has repeatedly disavowed ever having a program in the future.
They might as well not bother to have spent the last 16 years disavowing
arms, with hawkish John Bolton clearly acting like it never happened,
saying the US is determined to “increase the pressure on the Iranian regime until it abandons its nuclear weapons program.”
Iran’s Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami reiterated on Monday that Iran will
never pursue a nuclear weapon, and that the whole world knows that. The
general asked why the world keeps sanctions Iran over the nuclear issue
when it clearly isn’t a real issue.
US officials have been reiterating the idea of an Iranian “nuclear
threat” so long, and against all reason, that at this point the facts
don’t matter for most US officials. Policy is to escalate sanctions, and
the escalation has become an end unto itself.
Vice President Mike Pence says the US doesn’t want a war with Iran,
but is determined to protect its interests. He too presented the idea
that Iran would never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.
This puts Iran in a tough position with the US, because it plainly
doesn’t matter what Iran promises, what Iran does, or what Iranian
leaders declare as religiously forbidden. The US will always lead with
the same nonsensical demand, and US officials will always feel justified
with threatening Iran over plain lies.
