Ruminations: Repeat: Iran Does Not Wish To Develop Nuclear Weapons!

"[Operations are likely to last four to five weeks but could] go far longer than that."
"This was our last, best chance to strike -- what we're doing right now -- and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime."
"[Iran] remains one of the largest, if not the largest, state-sponsors of terrorism in the world."
"[It] continues to seek the means to possess and employ nuclear weapons."
"Its array of ballistic, cruise, anti-ship and other missiles pose a direct threat to and are attacking US forces, commercial vessels and civilians, as well as those of our allies and partners."
U.S. President Donald J. Trump

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Israeli and American forces have been pounding Iran, even as the Islamic Republic's military forces have demonstrated their capacity to respond in kind, attacking Israel and U.S. bases established in the Middle East with missiles and drones. Nothing prepared the Gulf states for the situation they now find themselves in; this was not their war, but one that Iran brought on itself. That Iranian forces schemed to attack its Sunni Arab neighbours in a display of furious payback for their amicable links to the United States likely escaped the imagination of even those states like Qatar and Oman who have always supported Iran.

Since the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the stage was set for a prolonged conflict and its resulting far-reaching consequences where Dubai has been struck with incoming fire, where hundreds of thousands of airline passengers are now stranded around the globe, where oil prices have shot up and allies of the United States though not having offered to form a coalition 'of the willing' still have pledged to assist in stopping the fast-and-furious Iranian missiles and drones.

A military evacuation flight for Czechs who were stranded in the Middle East landed in Prague on Tuesday, March 3, at the Vaclav Havel Airport. Roman Vondrous/AP

President Trump has tasked U.S. forces to destroy Iran's missile capabilities, to extinguish its naval capacity, to put a stop to the country succeeding in obtaining nuclear weapons, and to make completely certain that the Islamic Republic will be incapable of supporting proxy terror groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has joined Iran, distracting Israel from its mission there to retaliate against Hezbollah's missile attacks.

Even as airstrikes struck Tehran, its top security official, Ali Larijani vowed: "We will not negotiate with the United States", fulfilling the uncompromising orders given him by Ayatollah Khamenei before his death, to continue to guide the country, to ensure that the Islamic Republic lives on. The Iranian Red Crescent Society stated that 555 people have been killed in the U.S.-Israel operation. Hezbollah, in attacking Israel, invited a return of Israeli bombardments. Iran's missiles striking its neighbours caused the death of three people in the United Arab Emirates and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.

Iran's ballistic missile facilities were struck with 2,000-pound bombs unleashed by U.S B-2 stealth bombers, even as President Trump announced Sunday that nine Iranian warships had been sunk, leaving the Iranian navy's headquarters "largely destroyed". The situation did bring a response from Britain, France and Germany declaring Sunday they were prepared to work with the U.S. to aid in the goal of putting an end to Iran's attacks.

People gather in front of the destroyed center of a Lebanese Islamic group which hit by an Israeli strike, in the southern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Tuesday, March, 3. Mohammed Zaatari/AP

The paramilitary Basij force set up checkpoints across Tehran; known for their violent repression, the streets of the capital are silent with the absence of protesters, reminders of the violent crackdowns still fresh in memory. The Basij checkpoints are a pointed reminder to Iranians that this time, even more than last, any encouragement by them toward the invaders would be seen as treason, punishable by death.

Iran's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency informed news media that the Natanz nuclear enrichment site was hit by airstrikes on Sunday. "Their justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is simply a big lie", said Reza Najafi.