The recent U.S. deployment of B-2 bombers, the only planes able to launch the most powerful bunker-busting bombs, to within range of Iran is a potent signal to Tehran of what could happen to its nuclear program if no deal is reached to rein it in.
But military and nuclear experts say that even with such massive firepower, U.S.-Israeli military action would probably only temporarily set back a program the West fears is already aimed at producing atom bombs one day, although Iran denies it. Worse, an attack could prompt Iran to kick out United Nations nuclear inspectors, drive the already partly buried program fully underground and race toward becoming a nuclear-armed state, both ensuring and hastening that feared outcome.
"Ultimately, short of regime change or occupation, it's pretty difficult to see how military strikes could destroy Iran's path to a nuclear weapon," said Justin Bronk, senior research fellow for airpower and technology at the Royal United Services Institute, a British defense think-tank.
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