We might nuke Iran - Scott Ritter

This is live right now so I don't have a time stamp but Ritter's comments are pretty early. He's saying that Iran is very close to having a nuclear weapons program and that in the past they had a prohibition on having nukes. He says people involved in the program have been coming out and saying that if existential threats present themselves, then Iran could / should remove the prohibition. He says that, if that is done, it will be very quick and Iran will have nukes (days not months or years). Ritter says all of this signals to him that Iran has the pieces there, ready to be assembled, so to speak, and it's a matter of spinning up some uranium which can happen fast.

Ritter says in the past Trump was told that conventional weapons would not destroy Iran's nuke program because the targets are hardened, deep underground, etc. He believes the intel people are letting Trump know about this status with Iran and whether it's because of Israel or not, Trump is likely to say this is not acceptable. He mentions some new developments / changes with low yield US nuclear weapons to put them on platforms that are going to be suited for deep penetration. Ritter says that when this happens it'll be a comprehensive attack - nuke sites, leadership, etc. Ritter says this is why, or this is indicated by Trump going to Congress to talk about this issue (I didn't know he went and asked permission or notified Congress about Iran's nuke program, maybe he's referring to the speech in front of both chambers.).

Ritter goes on to say 'I don't think Trump really wants to do this' and the host says 'it'll end his presidency'. Ritter says Russia and China don't want to see Iran go nuclear and they may be able to help. Reading between the lines though it seems Iran believes they have to have a nuclear deterrent capability because of Israel. If we were to nuke Iran, I can't see that producing a good reaction around the world and whatever is left of Iran would desperately look for ways to get back at the US and eventually that would mean we get nuked in some fashion.

First I've seen this mentioned as realistic and something that could happen soon, so, passing it along.