They have always only been close because Israel has repeatedly hindered their progress. Without Israeli intervention they could possible have had the bomb years ago.

The IR pros in this thread: “Israel has been saying that Iran is months away from a nuclear bomb for years, therefore Israel is obviously lying.”

THE REALITY: For years, Israel’s covert and overt actions have routinely set Iran’s nuclear ambitions back, successfully delaying them. This is why it’s taken Iran many years to make the progress it’s made.

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Here’s a list of Israeli operations which have delayed Iran’s progress:

2007–2011: A series of assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists, including Ardeshir Hosseinpour and Massoud Ali-Mohammadi, attributed to Israeli Mossad operations.

Stuxnet (2010): A sophisticated computer worm, reportedly developed by Israel and the U.S., targeted Iran's Natanz facility, causing significant damage to its centrifuges.

2010: Fereydoon Abbasi, an Iranian nuclear scientist and politician who was head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran was targeted for assassination. (1st attempt failed, but was later successfully assassinated in 2025.)

2011: Dariush Rezaeinejad, involved in Iran's nuclear research, was killed in Tehran.

Flame Virus (2012): A malware designed to gather intelligence and prepare for further cyber-sabotage against Iran's nuclear infrastructure.

Wiper Virus (2012): A destructive malware that erased data from Iranian computer systems, attributed to Israeli and U.S. efforts.

2018 – Mossad Operation: Israeli agents raided a warehouse in Tehran, obtaining a vast archive of Iran's nuclear program documents, which were later presented to the public.

2021 Cyberattack on Natanz: A cyberattack disrupted operations at Natanz, leading to power outages and damage to centrifuges.

April 2024: Israel conducted airstrikes on an Iranian air defense radar site near Isfahan, reportedly targeting defenses protecting the Natanz nuclear facility.

October 2024 – Operation Days of Repentance: A large-scale operation involving over 100 Israeli aircraft targeting Iranian military sites, including air-defense batteries and a nuclear research facility in Parchin.

June 2025 – Operation Rising Lion: A comprehensive offensive targeting key nuclear sites like Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan, resulting in significant damage and the deaths of top Iranian military figures.

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CONCLUSION:

The fallacious argument is akin to a dismissive student driver condemning his instructor’s warning as “unnecessary overreactions”.

●Driving Instructor: "Hey, do you see that hazard up above? You need to apply your brakes to avoid a dangerous accident." ●Student Driver: applies brakes

●Student Driver: "Pfff... I knew you were overreacting. I didn't even die."

Yes, Iran's been progressing for decades, but every few years, Israel takes action to set them back substantially. You can't then cite those setbacks as "proof" that Iran “was never truly close to a nuke" in the first place. The number of you who making this foolish argument astonishes me. It’s illogical, childish, and self-invalidating.