One thing the United States has made clear since the release of the National Intelligence Estimate (nie) two years ago is that it fully intends to do absolutely nothing to stop Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons. In the lead-up to the publication of that report, you’ll remember, numerous commentators had good reason to wonder if President Bush would bomb Iran’s uranium enrichment facilities before leaving office.

“We’ve got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel,” President Bush warned in October 2007. “If you’re interested in avoiding World War iii, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”

Less than two months later, the Bush administration had seemingly lost all interest in preventing World War iii. In a stunning about-face, President Bush said the nie report, which absurdly claimed that Iran had mothballed its nuclear weapons program in 2003, was a “very important product.”

In actual fact, as we wrote about here, that shameful document took us one “giant step” closer to World War iii. And with the election of a radical administration the following year, the United States moved yet another massive step toward the fulfillment of the prophesied Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21-22).

At a political rally soon after the nie was released in December 2007, Barack Obama reminded his supporters about how he had been attacked for calling on the U.S. to reach out to Iran. “Then we learned in a National Intelligence Estimate that Iran suspended its nuclear weapons program in 2003,” Obama said in defense of his position. Throughout the campaign, in fact, then-Senator Obama repeatedly said he was eager to talk with Iranian leaders—and with no preconditions. And during his first year in office, President Obama has left the door wide open for Iran to engage in talks, even as the mullahs in Tehran draw near to the finish line of their nuclear weapons program.

But the new president’s “extended hand” has certainly not brought about reconciliation between the United States and Iran. If anything, as events from this past week powerfully demonstrate, the Iranian regime is digging in its heels.

On Monday, the Times of London cited secret Iranian documents that reveal that, at least since early 2007, Tehran has been working on a “neutron initiator”—the trigger needed to detonate a nuclear bomb. If authenticated, the Washington Post wrote, the newly revealed information “could rank as one of the strongest pieces of evidence pointing to a clandestine Iranian effort to build nuclear weapons.”

And this, bear in mind, was all going on at a time when the disgraceful nie claimed the program had gone dormant! For President Obama, the Times noted, the fallout could be explosive, because of his groundbreaking efforts to reach out to Iran.

At a press conference earlier this week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton acknowledged the new administration’s failure to make any meaningful diplomatic progress this past year. “I don’t think anyone can doubt that our outreach has produced very little in terms of any kind of a positive response from the Iranians,” Clinton said.

She isn’t the only one who seems to be fed up with Iran’s diplomatic game of cat-and-mouse. On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a bill that would sanction U.S. and foreign companies for selling refined petroleum to Iran. The bill passed the House with an almost unheard of majority of 412 to 12.

How did Iran react to the threat of fuel sanctions and the outcry over reports of its plans to build a nuclear trigger? Predictably, it was defiant. On Wednesday, Iran successfully test-fired a new-and-improved version of its Sejil-2 missile. Sejil, incidentally, means “baked clay” in Farsi. The name was derived from a passage of text in the Koran that says God drove away the enemies of Mecca by pounding them with stones of baked clay.

According to Iran’s defense minister, it’s “impossible” to destroy the upgraded Sejil-2 with anti-missile systems. He said the new missile design gives Iran a “strong deterrent” against a foreign attack.

Iran, of course, is primarily concerned about Israel—not the United States, which has reiterated that it has no intention of ever using military force against the Islamic Republic.

“There are no good options in Iran,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last week, answering a question from a U.S. soldier about the possibility of war with Iran. “One of the things that weighs on me is that if we have learned anything from Iraq over the past six years, [it] is the inherent unpredictability of war” (emphasis mine throughout).

This is the great lesson America has learned from Iraq? When has war ever been predictable?

Gates added: “The reality is that any military action would only buy some time.” So the great lesson from Iraq, in other words, is that it would be unwise to attack Iran.

The sad irony here is that for the past six years in Iraq, the United States of America has essentially been fighting Iran! Just today, for example, Agence France-Presse reported that Iranian forces have seized control of an oil well in southern Iraq. The U.S. military spokesman quoted in the report brushed aside the incident, saying things like this happen all the time and that it would be resolved through “peaceful diplomacy.”

Time and again, rather than confront the number-one state sponsor of terror, the United States turns a blind eye to Iran’s obvious intentions. We plead for them to accept our hand of friendship—they threaten to cut it off. We set a September deadline for Iran to choose engagement or face sanctions. Iran agrees to talk, but not about nukes. In October, we negotiate for Iran to ship most of its low-enriched uranium abroad, in order to buy time for more negotiations. Iran rejects the proposal and announces plans to build 10 new enrichment facilities. Then we find the smoking gun this week and it responds to the threat of sanctions by test-firing the Sejil-2 and seizing control of an Iraqi oil field.

And yet, America’s leadership continues on living in a state of denial. Even the bill that passed through the House by an overwhelming majority this week may now languish in the Senate. Why? Because there are still plenty of influential people in the Obama administration who firmly believe in the fantasy of diplomatic engagement with Iran.

According to Inter Press Service, the State Department delivered a letter to Sen. John Kerry last week urging the lawmaker to stonewall the legislation at least until early next year. “[W]e are entering a critical period of intense diplomacy to impose significant international pressure on Iran,” wrote Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg. “This requires that we keep the focus on Iran. At this juncture, I am concerned that this legislation, in its current form, might weaken rather than strengthen international unity and support for our efforts.”

Sanctions, in other words, must have international support, including from Russia and China, two of Iran’s most favored trade partners.

And so, Iran’s Manhattan Project survives yet another year without incident. It will eventually be smashed. We know that because Daniel prophesied it would happen. In that prophecy, the European Union—which has now become the Holy Roman Empire—will come against the Iranian-led king of the south with hurricane-like force.

The United States, meanwhile, doesn’t even factor into this spectacular clash.

If the events of the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that we are now taking giant steps toward the next world war.