Last night, in a pre-emptive military operation dubbed Operation Rising Lion, Israeli defense forces struck Iran's nuclear and military sites, including a key uranium enrichment facility, killing senior military commanders and nuclear scientists.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Iran was dangerously close to developing a nuclear weapon, stating, “If not stopped, Iran could develop a nuclear weapon in a very short time — it could be a year, or even just months. This is a clear and present danger to Israel's survival.”
The idea of a nuclear weapon in the hands of the Iranian regime is a terrifying notion. In the wake of Israel’s strike, many are wondering: Just how close was Iran to developing a nuclear bomb?
To get insight, Glenn Beck invited former IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus to “The Glenn Beck Program.”
“Iran has been dashing for the bomb for a long period of time,” says Conricus.
Citing a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, he adds, “Iran is not only enriching uranium to weapons-grade and has enough fissile material for at least 10 bombs, but that Iran is also in noncompliance when it comes to their obligations to allow international supervision of their sites.”
The IAEA report, along with other currently classified intelligence, was the “tipping point” that set Operation Rising Lion in motion.
“Iran has an open goal to annihilate the state of Israel. ... We know that they mean business, and we also know that if we allow them to develop the tools to do so, they might be tempted to use them, and that is what Israel has today started to unravel in terms of those Iranian capabilities,” Conricus told Glenn.
Glenn brings up a recent Axios article claiming that two Israeli officials said President Trump and Netanyahu deceived Iran about the Israeli strike on its nuclear facilities. The article suggests Trump publicly opposed the strike but privately supported it to mislead Iran, ensuring key targets remained in place.
“The president [said], 'You have 60 days to negotiate, and you don't want to see what happens on day 61.' I don't think that's deceptive to make plans to go in on day 61,” says Glenn.
Conricus believes it “is deception” but in a “good way,” in that it allowed Israel to catch their enemy “unaware” and “unprepared.” President Trump, he says, has “been very straightforward telling the Iranians time and time again this is the best deal that you're going to get.”
It was made perfectly clear to Iran that it “should relinquish all attempts to enrich material ... [and] allow full comprehensive inspection of all of [its] sites, nuclear as well as weapons development,” and yet the regime “didn't do it,” he explains.
“We are today on day 61 of the presidential ultimatum, and this is what happens.”
To hear more of the conversation, watch the clip above.
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