Steve Forbes shares his view of Iran's nuclear ambitions, and what it will take to stop them, as the Trump Administration conducts talks.
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00:00The U.S. has started talks with Iran about dismantling its nuclear program.
00:05Here's why. This is a very dangerous undertaking.
00:14Hello, I'm Steve Forbes and this is What's Ahead, where you get the insights you need to better navigate these turbulent times.
00:21President Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, just finished a second round of talks with Iran's foreign minister over Iran's rapid development of nuclear arms.
00:32Another meeting is coming in a few days.
00:34In the meantime, experts from both countries are getting together before the next gathering of the two officials.
00:40Witkoff, a real estate developer with no previous diplomatic experience, must know this process is a fool's errand if the administration actually believes the mullahs will dismantle its nuclear program,
00:54stop developing ballistic missiles that could eventually reach the U.S., and cease supporting proxy terrorist groups in the Middle East and elsewhere.
01:02Perhaps the exercise is an effort to show the world that we try to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions peacefully before Israel or the U.S. in conjunction with Israel destroys its elaborate nuclear development facilities.
01:16Otherwise, the mullahs will use every trick to keep any military action at bay.
01:22Iran knows all too well that Israel has crippled its air defense systems and that the world has witnessed how feeble Iran's missile attacks have been.
01:31It will engage in endless talks about the process of dismantlement.
01:35It will try to keep facilities to go forward with an allegedly peaceful nuclear energy effort.
01:41That way, even if some of its current facilities are actually destroyed, the mullahs could easily ramp up things when President Trump leaves office.
01:49They could even start surreptitiously before he's out.
01:52The clerics will make a big deal of stopping further development of its missile capabilities as an alleged show of good faith.
01:59It may even do the same thing with supporting terrorist proxies, since most of these have already been obliterated, primarily by the Israelis.
02:09President Trump has forcibly stated that Iran will not get the bomb, but the mullahs absolutely will not have been in its goal to become a nuclear power.
02:18It will only pretend to do so.
02:20It realizes how these weapons have given North Korea the ultimate in security insurance.
02:26The bloodthirsty clerics witnessed what happened to the regime of Libya's Muammar Gaddafi when it let the West get rid of its nuclear development facilities.
02:36It saw what has happened to Ukraine after 1994, when Kyiv gave up the nuclear weapons it had on its soil when the Soviet Union broke apart.
02:45The clerics believe they can play games with the inexperienced Witkoff with seeming shows of progress.
02:52But make no mistake, if it looks like the mullahs are getting away with their tricks, the Israelis ultimately will take military action.
03:00They suffer no illusions about the fanatics ruling Iran, who have made no secret of their goal of obliterating the Jewish state.
03:08Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu succinctly put what must be done if an attack is to be avoided.
03:15Quote, you go in, blow up the facilities, dismantle all the equipment under U.S. supervision.
03:22End quote.
03:23He has it right.
03:25I'm Steve Forbes.
03:26Thanks for listening.
03:27Do send in your comments and suggestions.
03:29I look forward to being with you soon again.