Israel’s current hostilities with Iran may not be entirely over yet, but the end is in sight. We can say with some confidence that the Iranian regime’s nuclear weapons program has been set back substantially.
I would add: Barack Obama hardest hit. With the JCPOA, Obama sought to facilitate it, legalize it, protect it, and fund. He wanted Iran to have a nuclear weapons. He seems to have thought it was only fair.
And then there is President Trump. He has upset the applecart. Jonathan Tobin takes a step back to pay tribute in “Would anyone but Trump have done it?” Answer: no. Here are the opening paragraphs of the column:
Donald Trump appears to have fooled both his friends and foes. And he has done something none of his predecessors dared to do. With a single stroke, his orders to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities may well have altered the path of history. The Islamist regime’s goal of building a nuclear weapon with which it could destroy Israel, intimidate America’s allies in the region into subservience and threaten the rest of the West with which it continues itself to be in a religious war is effectively finished.
After 20 years during which American presidents have variously ignored, appeased or actively aided the Iranian threat, Trump has essentially broken the pattern set down by the American foreign-policy establishment. Just as he did in his first term by moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and understanding that the Palestinians should not be allowed to veto peace between the Jewish state and Arab states via the Abraham Accords, he has now extended that streak to his second term with respect to Iran.
“Actively aided….” He’s talking about Obama most of all. No president aided the Iranian regime more than Obama. Nobody believed more intensely in it. In 2015 Michael Doran explained “Obama’s secret Iran strategy” (and followed up with Biden in the 2021 Tablet column “The realignment”). Obama and Biden have transported the Democratic Party along with them into the Shangri-La that is aligned with the mullahs.
We also have the case of Tucker Carlson. His animus has become transparent. It has taken him to a very dark place. Most recently, courtesy of what must have been a leak from a friend of his in the White House, Carlson had a fit after Mark Levin visited with Trump on June 4. Levin — he’s Jewish, you know.
The visit triggered Carlson’s recurring vision of the apocalypse. Note his description of Levin’s “hyperventilating” while Carlson himself appears to be having difficulty catching a breath. This is for the record:
Mark Levin was at the White House today, lobbying for war with Iran. To be clear, Levin has no plans to fight in this or any other war. He’s demanding that American troops do it. We need to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons, he and likeminded ideologues in Washington are now arguing. They’re just weeks away.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because the same people have been making the same claim since at least the 1990s. It’s a lie. In fact, there is zero credible intelligence that suggests Iran is anywhere near building a bomb, or has plans to. None. Anyone who claims otherwise is ignorant or dishonest. If the US government knew Iran was weeks from possessing a nuclear weapon, we’d be at war already.
Iran knows this, which is why they aren’t building one. Iran also knows it’s unwise to give up its weapons program entirely. Muammar Gaddafi tried that and wound up sodomized with a bayonet. As soon as Gaddafi disarmed, NATO killed him. Iran’s leaders saw that happen. They learned the obvious lesson.
So why is Mark Levin once again hyperventilating about weapons of mass destruction? To distract you from the real goal, which is regime change — young Americans heading back to the Middle East to topple yet another government. Virtually no one will say this out loud. America’s record of overthrowing foreign leaders is so embarrassingly counterproductive that regime change has become a synonym for disaster. Officially, no one supports it. So instead of telling the truth about their motives, they manufacture hysteria: “A country like Iran can never have the bomb! They’ll nuke Los Angeles! We have to act now!”
They don’t really mean this, and you can tell they don’t by what they omit. At least two of Iran’s neighbors — both Islamic nations — already have nuclear weapons. That fact should scare the hell out of Mark Levin. Yet for some reason he never mentions it. How come? Because it’s not the weapons he hates. It’s the ideology of the Iranian government, which is why he’s lobbying to overthrow it.
It goes without saying that there are very few Trump voters who’d support a regime change war in Iran. Donald Trump has argued loudly against reckless lunacy like this. Trump ran for president as a peace candidate. That’s what made him different from conventional Republicans. It’s why he won. A war with Iran would amount to a profound betrayal of his supporters. It would end his presidency. That may explain why so many of Trump’s enemies are advocating for it.
And then there’s the question of the war itself. Iran may not have nukes, but it has a fearsome arsenal of ballistic missiles, many of which are aimed at US military installations in the Gulf, as well as at our allies and at critical energy infrastructure. The first week of a war with Iran could easily kill thousands of Americans. It could also collapse our economy, as surging oil prices trigger unmanageable inflation. Consider the effects of $30 gasoline.
But the second week of the war could be even worse. Iran isn’t Iraq or Libya, or even North Korea. While it’s often described as a rogue state, Iran has powerful allies. It’s now part of a global bloc called BRICS, which represents the majority of the world’s landmass, population, economy and military power. Iran has extensive military ties with Russia. It sells the overwhelming majority of its oil exports to China. Iran isn’t alone. An attack on Iran could very easily become a world war. We’d lose.
None of these are far fetched predictions. Most of them comport with the Pentagon’s own estimates: many Americans would die during a war with Iran. People like Mark Levin don’t seem to care about this. It’s not relevant to them. Instead they insist that Iran give up all uranium enrichment, regardless of its purpose. They know perfectly well that Iran will never accept that demand. They’ll fight first. And of course that’s the whole point of pushing for it: to box the Trump administration into a regime change war in Iran.
The one thing that people like Mark Levin don’t want is a peaceful solution to the problem of Iran, despite the obvious benefits to the United States. They denounce anyone who advocates for a deal as a traitor and a bigot. They tell us with a straight face that Long Island native Steve Witkoff is a secret tool of Islamic monarchies. They’ll say or do whatever it takes. They have no limits. These are scary people. Pray that Donald Trump ignores them.
Put it in the category of unanswered prayers. Perhaps he owes Mark Levin an apology.
Mark Levin was at the White House today, lobbying for war with Iran. To be clear, Levin has no plans to fight in this or any other war. He’s demanding that American troops do it. We need to stop Iran from building nuclear weapons, he and likeminded ideologues in Washington are…
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) June 5, 2025
This is Carlson yesterday. For some reason or other Bari Weiss comes to his mind. Weiss — she’s like Levin. And, in case you didn’t know, according to Carlson, Qatar is a friend of Israel — the American base stationed there being for Israel’s protection. Did Candace Owens tell him that? Darryl Phillips? Come to think of it, Israel — Israel is like Mark Levin and Bari Weiss.
This clip is perfect example of what a fraud Tucker has become.
The fake emotion. Hand on his heart!
Saying Qatar defends Israel. They housed Hamas leadership.
Going after Bari Weiss for no reason. Oh, right she supports Israel.
Qatar allows us to have a base to be nice. So… pic.twitter.com/ffN4XA2hCJ
— Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) June 23, 2025
