Trump’s Iran strike was a mistake, says ex-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken

By KEMI KASUMU with Agencies

“Third, experts I’ve spoken to had real doubts about the ability of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or M.O.P. — the 30,000-pound bombs unique to America’s arsenal that were dropped on Iran’s nuclear sites — to fully incapacitate the Fordo site and other deeply buried or fortified components of Iran’s nuclear program. Initial reports suggest that while Iran’s nuclear infrastructure was severely damaged, it was not destroyed.”

Immediate past United States of America’s Secretary of State, Mr. Antony Blinken, says the airstrikes carried out by Trump Administration against Islamic Republic of Iran was a mistake.

He stated this in a comment published by The Washington Post on June 24, 2025 a day after Iran’s retaliation of US Sunday’s joining of the Made-in-Israel war against started by Tel Aviv on Friday June 13.

The DEFENDER reports that that the war lasted for 12 days with Israel being at the receiving end of the entire episode it scripted and acted waking up just one morning and missile attacks on a sovereign country under the claim of national security, while infringing on the national security of others.

Until the time of filing this report on Thursday June 26, Israel, which banned media from letting the world know exact impact of damage caused it by the Iranian fire power, was yet to officially come open on same. However, following its confirmed website hacking, details of the proofs that it lost the war it started were revealed, according to a report by Yemen writer, Dr. Abdullahi Al-Monsouri.

President Donald Trump practically called all trusted American intelligence institutions liars, by implications, going by his continued denial of US Director of IAEA that said there was no evidence of Iran building nuclear weapons and even White House intelligence report that said his airstrikes on the Iranian nuclear sites destroyed nothing.

In his comment, Blinken said, “The strike on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities by the United States was unwise and unnecessary. Now that it’s done, I very much hope it succeeded.

“That’s the paradox for many former officials like me who worked on the Iran nuclear problem during previous administrations. We shared a determination that Iran never be allowed to produce or possess a nuclear weapon. Iran without a nuclear weapon is bad enough: a leading state sponsor of terrorism; a destructive and destabilizing force via its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, Yemen and Iraq; an existential threat to Israel. An Iran with a nuclear weapon would feel emboldened to act with even greater impunity in each of those arenas.

“So why was the strike a mistake?

“First, it never should have come to this. In 2015, the Obama administration, together with Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and the European Union, reached agreement with Tehran on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or J.C.P.O.A. The nuclear deal effectively put Iran’s program to make fissile material, the fuel for a nuclear weapon, in a lockbox, with stringent procedures for monitoring the program.

“The deal pushed “breakout” — the amount of time it would take Iran to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a single nuclear weapon — to at least one year. If Iran reneged on the agreement or refused to extend it when certain provisions expired after 15 years, we would know it and have plenty of time to respond, including, if necessary, militarily.

“In 2018, President Trump tore up the agreement and replaced it with … nothing. In response, Iran accelerated its enrichment, quite likely reducing its breakout time to a matter of days or weeks. Mr. Trump, in essence, is now trying to put out a fire on which he poured gasoline.

“Second, fissile material is a necessary but insufficient element for a bomb. You also need an explosive weapon. As of now — and there are conflicting messages coming from within the Trump administration — our intelligence agencies believe Iran has not yet made a decision to weaponize.

“If and when it does, it would take Tehran 18 to 24 months to produce an explosive device, according to some estimates. In other words, there was still time for diplomacy to work, and the situation wasn’t nearly the emergency that Mr. Trump portrayed it to be.

“Third, experts I’ve spoken to had real doubts about the ability of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, or M.O.P. — the 30,000-pound bombs unique to America’s arsenal that were dropped on Iran’s nuclear sites — to fully incapacitate the Fordo site and other deeply buried or fortified components of Iran’s nuclear program.

“Initial reports suggest that while Iran’s nuclear infrastructure was severely damaged, it was not destroyed.”