U.S. defense secretary: " We have the capability to shut down, set back and destroy the Iranian nuclear program"

U.S. defense secretary: " We have the capability to shut down, set back and destroy the Iranian nuclear program" (ToI).

American bunker busting bombs that can penetrate and destroy underground Iranian nuclear facilities are ready for use, US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said Friday, reinforcing the threat of US military action should Iran shirk away from a final nuclear agreement with world powers.

“We have the capability to shut down, set back and destroy the Iranian nuclear program and I believe the Iranians know that and understand that,” he told CNN, referencing the Massive Ordinance Penetrator (MOP), one of the US military’s most powerful conventional weapons.

Asked if the weapon was capable of destroying Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment plant, a nuclear facility built into a mountain, Carter answered “Yes, that’s what it’s designed to do.”

Carter added that any agreement with Iran would depend on Tehran allowing inspections of its nuclear facilities. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ail Khamenei said Thursday that the inspection of military facilities would not be permitted.

Carter noted that a negotiated agreement was preferable to a military strike since “military action is reversible over time” but said “my job as secretary of defense is to…make sure that the so-called military option…is on the table.”   Hmmm......Sounds like they understood Congress will deliver a veto proof 'offer'.Read the full story here.