...........  Was there another way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon?

President Obama thought so... as did Europe.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was a deal signed by Iran and the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China, and Germany, with the explicit intention of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon while simultaneously reintroducing the regime into the international community.

It was essentially a collection of technical limitations on Iran's nuclear program, designed to extend the "breakout time" — the time required for Iran to produce enough fissile material for a weapon — to at least 12 months.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was to be guaranteed access to inspect and monitor sites, and even potentially "undeclared" sites through a defined dispute resolution system.

In return, Iran would receive substantial sanctions relief, including the unfreezing of billions of dollars in Iranian assets and foreign currency reserves.

Of course, it wasn't perfect. It relied on a lot of trust. But most experts agreed that while the deal may have strengthened the regime economically, it would have made it incredibly difficult for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon without early detection.

It was the result of true diplomacy. A brilliant and well constructed attempt by a genuine statesman to literally bring traditional adversaries to the table and find common ground in the pursuit of global peace.

So... why did it fail?

Fox News and other right wing media railed against the deal and propagated a lie that Obama had literally paid the Iranians billions of dollars (he had actually just returned Iran's own money that had been frozen as a result or sanctions).

Netenyahu, in particular, aggressively criticised the deal as a "historic mistake", and urged Republicans to oppose the deal during a speech to Congress (while Obama was still President!).

Then... in 2018, Trump withdrew from the deal, calling it "the worst deal ever."

The Europeans, Chinese, and Russians attempted to continue the deal without the U.S., but Trump not only reimposed sanctions — he added new ones.

Iran initially complied, but after about a year of inaction, it began incrementally breaching the agreement and recommenced enrichment programs that had been ceased under the deal.

Perhaps most tragically, the Iranian President who had signed the deal, Hassan Rouhani, was a moderate who had hung his reputation on this engagement with the West. He advocated for the deal within Iran as an alternate path to indefinite hostility. He and Obama seemed to genuinely believe that a new relationship was possible.

Trump demonstrated to the Iranian people that any deal with the USA was meaningless. In the next election, a hardline and anti-Western cleric named Ebrahim Raisi was elected President of Iran, riding a wave of resentment from this American betrayal.

Raisi dramatically intensified Iran's hostile posture toward the West and increased military support for its proxies across the region, while also accelerating Iran's nuclear program.

So much of the instability in the region today — in Israel, Yemen, Lebanon, and even Sudan — can be attributed, to some degree, to Trump's reckless unilateral decision to tear up Obama’s nuclear deal... seemingly out of spite more than anything.

Iran could have been brought in from the cold and become a stabilising presence in the region. Instead, they're providing drones to bomb Ukrainian cities, fighting proxy wars through Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis... and are now at war with Israel.

It didn't have to be this way...       ..........

Iran could have quietly reformed and modernized.

Bush caused it by invading Iraq in 2003 -

Iraq was a counterbalance to Iran and
when Iraq was destroyed -
Iran filled the power vacuum.

Karnal wrote on Jun 16^th, 2025 at 9:56pm:

Yep... cos that's what repressive theocratic regimes do when treated well... they reform and modernise...NOT !!

The point of the Islamic Revolution was to turn back Iranian secularisation and modernisation and impose 7th-century-style societal rule...

An Iran that doesn't bash women to death in police cells for being immodest can only exist when the mullahs are removed from power by force.

On Jan. 17, the administration paid Iran the account’s $400 million principal in pallets of euros, Swiss francs and other foreign currency, raising questions about the unusual payment.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-paid-1-3-billion-to-iran-two-days-after-cash-de...

March 31, 2016

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - By launching nuclear-capable missiles Iran has defied a United Nations Security Council resolution that endorsed last year's historic nuclear deal, the United States and its European allies said in a joint letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Iran's recent ballistic tests involved missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and were "inconsistent with" and "in defiance of" council resolution 2231, adopted last July, said the joint U.S., British, French, German letter to Spain's U.N. Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.
The letter said the missiles used in the recent launches were "inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons." It also asked that the Security Council discuss "appropriate responses" to Tehran's failure to comply with its obligations and urged Ban to report back on Iranian missile work inconsistent with 2231.



https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-missiles-idUSKCN0WV2HE/

From the same Bobby who warned us about WMDs in Iraq?

Come come. You're baying for this one, and you'll bay at whoever you're told, dear.

Yes, Master.