Can Iran be stopped from getting a nuclear bomb? | The Economist

Can a programme like Iran's. be bombed out of existence? Not completely. No, no. And this is something that, it's obvious because. you cannot unlearn. what you've learned. But if I was a hawk I’d say. so then kill all the scientists. with this knowledge in their head, bomb all of the sites. There will be people. saying that in maybe. Israel or in America. Well, that would be unique. in contemporary history, this idea that you can destroy. completely a country. I don't think that that is realistic.

as an option, honestly, apart from moral considerations. and ethical considerations, which, of course, would in my. personal view. deem it unacceptable. and maybe horrific. But I don't think. a country with the dimension. and with the economic. maturity of Iran. can simply be prevented. from doing this. The area of enrichment. has its complexities. but it's not something.

of a level of sophistication... and they reached that. If you compare. between the JCPOA time. The old Obama-era. nuclear agreement. Exactly, that was. looking at a very simple. type of centrifuge machine. Well, in the space. of three to four years. since the JCPOA was abandoned,

well, Iran very quickly developed. ultracentrifuges of much. better performance. and accuracy. and output. So...and that is there. And that is something that. can be done in. workshops in many cities. So you cannot stop. that militarily. So then if you can't bomb it. completely out of existence,

if you can't kill everyone. who has the knowledge. in their heads, what is the way out of this? Is there a way of stopping. this nuclear programme? Is there a way of stopping Iran. getting a nuclear bomb? What you need to stop. is nuclear weapons programme. A nuclear programme. any country can have. So how do you stop. a nuclear weapons programme? Well, by having. an inspection regime, by allowing. the IAEA to do its job. Are we closer. or further from that. since this latest war? Has that latest war. helped you or hurt your job? Well, I think it makes it.

more complex.