FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
June 17, 2025
Contact: press@defensepriorities.org
WASHINGTON, DC—Rosemary Kelanic, Director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities, issued the following statement in response to heightened concerns that the U.S. is considering striking Iran.
“President Trump should not attack Iran. The U.S. military is highly capable, but strikes to destroy Iran’s nuclear program would be neither quick nor easy. And they would harm, rather than help, diplomatic efforts to remove the risks Iran will someday acquire a nuclear weapon, or result in regime change or destruction that creates a failed state.
“Iran’s known nuclear sites are buried deep beneath mountains that the strongest U.S. bunker busters would struggle to destroy. Even if airstrikes damage critical infrastructure, the nuclear centrifuges and enriched uranium stockpiles may survive, leaving critical parts of the program intact—any strikes would encourage Iran to race to a bomb.
“The only way to eliminate Iran’s nuclear sites with certainty is to put boots on the ground. And that means regime change. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the U.S. to join Israel’s war with Iran, not only to remove nuclear weapons, but also to remove the regime in Tehran. That would be a bloody, protracted fiasco.
“U.S. strikes on Iran would undermine non-proliferation goals, and Congress has not approved any war on Iran—launching one would thwart the will of the American people, who oppose another costly Middle East war.
“We need a political solution, not war. Diplomacy can still work—it’s the only path to avoid further calamity.”
See here for more analysis on the Israel-Iran conflict.
A U.S. War With Iran Would Be a Catastrophe (New York Times)
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