John Kerry: 'You cannot bomb away the memory of how to make a bomb'

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Hill

06/24/25 4:08 PM ET


Former Secretary of State John Kerry warned of the challenge of permanently eliminating the threat of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, noting the institutional memory remains even if the facilities are destroyed.

“You cannot bomb away the memory of how to make a bomb. You can’t bomb away the knowledge that they have developed,” Kerry said Monday in an interview on CNN International’s “Amanpour.” “You can’t bomb away the broad array of technicians who’ve been working on this for years, who will go back to work if that’s the mission they’re given by the leadership of the country,” he continued.

“And one of the dangers here is that the more this goes on in a military way, the more power goes to the worst defenders within Iran, the IRGC. And that’s not good for anybody,” Kerry said, using an acronym for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Kerry — who played a key role in brokering the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in the Obama administration — reflected on his experience negotiating with Iran a decade ago and said, “I do think people have to be realistic here in understanding what the choices are.”

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/international/5367291-john-kerry-iran-nuclear-us-bomb/

[Irish_Dem]

1. Trump is not capable of realistically understanding anything.

Unless it has to do with grifting, stealing, conning, accepting bribes, etc.

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. I imagine a coupla dudes

named Oppenheimer and Teller probably wrote it down someplace, too.

[FBaggins]

3. Well... you actually can

If Oppenheimer and eight of his ten closest teammates had been bombed during the Manhattan Project… it would have set us back quite a distance.

[hunter]

4. You don't need the Oppenheimers to cook up a bomb any more.

You just need people who can read the recipes.

The conceptual leaps that led to the creation of atomic weapons can't be stuffed back it the bottle.

Knowing something can be done is the largest hurdle. The rest is just bureaucracy -- establishing the industrial and intellectual infrastructure required to accomplish it.

[creon]

5. so it shall be written

so it shall be done.

Iran knows how to do it.

That cannot be bombed away.

[Bayard]

6. If only....

If only the nuclear deal John Kerry worked on had been left in place.

If only John Kerry had been president.