“You can’t bomb away the knowledge” -John Kerry
Marg bar means death to…
It was chanted after the hostage crisis. Marg bar America. Death to America. Yet, many of the Islamic Republic children came to America to study and prosper.
Then it was Marg bar Israel. Death to Israel. Why?
Does the Islamic Republic just worry about the Palestinians? Or is it because Imam Khomeini said that Jerusalem had to be liberated? Did the Palestinians want the interference of the Islamic Republic?
Most didn’t.
Iranians in general do not worry about the Palestinians. My generation did. The new generation doesn’t. They worry about jobs, their well-being, their future and the future of their children.
The powers want more martyrs.
We want life more than wanting to die.
We are now facing a different world. In Ukraine, thousands have died. In Gaza, at least fifty thousand are known dead, more are under the rubble, and it is continuing. Even while Israel attacked Iran, Gaza was not spared. The regimes in power want death to continue so the arms industry can prosper at the detriment of world citizens.
But here is where the dilemma is:
Why did the Islamic Republic want to pursue the nuclear program? How has spending more than $50 billion benefited the Iranian people?
Couldn’t this amount of money be spent to enrich every Iranian?
Iran’ s nuclear program dated back to the Shah’s time, but at that time, Iran and Israel had a good relationship. The Islamic Republic only continued the same program
Things changed after the 1979n Iranian Revolution that brought political Islam to power. Israel became the number two enemy. The little Satan. America was the big Satan.
The northern neighbor, Russia, which had always had its eyes on Iran, abruptly became a friend. Russian President Vladimir Putin brought a Koran as a gift to Khamenei.
Israel on the other hand has been a dishonest broker. The Israelis under their first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, decided to acquire nuclear weapons at any cost — as a deterrent against their Arab neighbors. The Shah and the Israeli government at the time collaborated. Turkey was also part of that coalition.
According to various sources, the Israelis stole nuclear material to make their bombs.
According to Jefferson Morley, in his book The Ghost, James Jesus Angleton — a highly sophisticated CIA operative who was also into conspiracies — did not like the Jews or the State of Israel but after making several trips there, became enchanted with them, in awe of their intelligence apparatus. Angleton knew of the stolen nuclear secrets and materiel but chose not to make a big deal out of it. It has been alleged that in the mid-1960s, a US company, NUMEC — based in the Pittsburgh suburb of Apollo — misplaced as much as 600 pounds of highly enriched uranium.
Morley wrote, “In the spring of 1965, a technician working the night shift at the NUMEC plant went out on a loading dock. The technician saw an unusual sight. Zalman Shapiro, owner of the company paced on the dock while a foreman and truck driver loaded cylindrical storage containers, known as stovepipes.” These canisters held high enriched materials (95 percent uranium 235). They were bound for Israel.
Angleton knew about the loss of uranium at the Apollo plant.
He and Richard “Dick” Helms, who became the U.S. ambassador to Iran between 1973-1976, were both pro-Zionist, like most U.S. officials. They viewed Israel as America’s best friend amid a sea of enemies in the Middle East.
But did Iran ever want to acquire nuclear weapons? No, not according to many experts. It was against the wishes of Khamenei. He had declared a fatwa or considered legal opinion against the bomb because it could not be used without inflicting mass civilian casualties, which is contrary to Islamic law.
In 2011, I interviewed Dr. Avner Cohen, the foremost Israeli- American expert on the subject. He is a prominent figure in the nonproliferation field and in the history of nuclear weapons, well known for his works on Israel’s nuclear history. Here is what he said at that time:
“I think one has to be nuanced about it. You are right to point out that there are different views in Israel about characterizing the Iranian nuclear threat. Some refer to it as “existential threat,” while others do not like to use this phrase. Some say ‘Israel is strong, and nobody in the world can pose an existential threat to Israel.’ For example, both Minister of Defense Ehud Barak and opposition leader Tzipi Livni avoid using the phrase “existential threat” in reference to Iran. I personally also believe that it is somewhat a misleading phrase because Israel, at the present time, is much stronger than Iran. Therefore, if anybody can pose an existential threat, it is Israel to Iran and not vice versa. At the same time, virtually all Israelis agree that Iran’s nuclear program is a major security challenge to Israel. Simply put, it could end Israel’s monopoly in the region. I think it is fair to say that virtually all Israelis are concerned about such an eventuality. Furthermore, I think almost all Israelis agree that they would not rule out the possibility of military action against Iran’s nuclear program. But the degree of willingness and readiness to actually do it is quite different among various Israeli leaders. I do believe that PM Netanyahu would be more willing to take that path.”
It seems that his prediction was right on the spot:
As of 2025, Iran has not decided to pursue an atomic weapon, according to US intelligence assessments and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Iran is also a signatory to the non-proliferation treaty. Israel has never signed the treat nor, according to Cohen, has it even acknowledged its possession of nuclear weapons. IAEA inspectors inspected the various facilities in Iran, and it is only last week that Rafael Grossi, the Argentinean head of IAEA, allowed that Iran was getting close to a nuclear breakout – though he denied that there was any evidence that the country has a weapons program. Grossi is, of course, under enormous political pressure.
Sixty percent enrichment, which Iran recently achieved, is not enough to make a bomb, and is only useful for medical isotopes.
Perhaps today, after the recent bombings of the nuclear sites, the IRI may want to pursue a nuclear weapons capability. Who wouldn’t if their country is being targeted all the time?
During the Obama administration, after two years of negotiations, the 2015 nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) was signed by Iran and the UN Security Council members plus GermanyIt was a success, and Iran faithfully adhered to its stipulations, which forestalled any path to weaponization.
Upon the advice of Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump got out of it in May 2018 He also ordered the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.
Extra-judicial assassinations are how Israel has conducted itself since its inception.
How can any state survive with bunkers and assassinations and occupation? Is that normal? Is that a normal life for ordinary Israelis?
Why does Israel have a right to nuclear weapons and not any other country?
Was it because of the Holocaust or because they feel emboldened or are afraid of their enemies? None of the Arab armies could even come close to an army like Israel.
How would Iran, even if it acquired nukes, be a threat to the U.S. being thousands of miles away and without intercontinental ballistic missiles? Iran has never threated the US soil militarily. The United States, under many presidential administrations has, however, often threatened Iran with regime change. Remember the Bush era?
The U.S. with its “fantastic” B-2 bombs just obliterated three nuclear sites in Iran (without the Congressional approval).
If this is not a declaration of war, what is?
“Tehran Doves,” Digital, ChatGPT, 2025
Iranians have the will and the wisdom to make changes even if it takes longer than envisioned. Iranians are frustrated with the current regime. They are tired of sanctions. They are tired of an oppressive regime but who wants their country attacked by bombs? They went through that during the 8-year Iran-Iraq war.
It is not clear why Trump did not even wait two weeks when he said he would. He decided one night to bomb. Well, the glitter of the B-2’s made him elated.
He is also undermining his own promises he made at dozens of rallies. No more wars and no more regime changes, he proclaimed. It was all false. He has betrayed his own MAGA base. He blasted GW Bush for the invasion of Iraq. But at the end of the day, he did what Tel Aviv told him. Even though, while he was signing the dozens of executive orders, he said loudly I don’t want to sign this, they are pushing me, referring to an executive order to attack Iran. Even Don Jr. in a moment of truth-telling admitted that ‘there are forces who are pushing my father to go into war with Iran.’
I saw these statements on TV with my own eyes.
It is high time for those Iranians who chanted or still chant Marg bar…. to stop ,and chant ‘let’s live and long live .’ And both Iranians and Israelis should want to live a nuclear free future in peace.
Let us hope the fragile ceasefire holds, and that the parties step back from the brink.
We want to live …
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