When 9/11 happened, Iran was one of the first countries that condemned the terror attack. It even helped the Americans in the war against Qaeda/Taliban. Bush returned the favour by calling Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea, as an axis of evil. That was a warning sign. The North Koreans, who had the institutional memory of the devastating American bombing of 1950-53, moved swiftly to make a bomb. I would say they were smart. The Iranians chose not to make one. They thought the axis would give them deterrence while an advanced nuclear programme would provide them diplomatic cards. Khamenei even issued a fatwa against the bomb!
In 2015, they signed a deal, agreeing to limit the nuclear programme. They were fully compliant with the terms of the agreement. Trump returned the favour by tearing the deal apart in 2018. The rest is history.
I wrote this in June 2025: In a treacherous world like ours, nuclear weapons are the ultimate deterrent. If you make a bomb, make it, don't talk. Iran is being bombed not because it wants to make a bomb, but because it did not make one. It's too early to make predictions about which way the war is headed, but this one will have far-reaching consequences in West Asia. This is far bigger than the June war.