Joy Reid appears to suggest Iran wasn’t seeking nukes — but then proceeds to contradict herself

Former MSNBC host Joy Reid apparently implied Tuesday that Iran only sought a civilian nuclear power program before she blamed Israel’s “expansionist power” for the theocratic regime’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The United States struck facilities related to Iran’s effort to develop nuclear weapons in Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan early Sunday morning local time, using 14 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators and other precision-guided weapons in the operation, which involved a 37-hour flight by seven B-2A Spirit bombers. Reid clashed with CNN reporter Brian Todd over the program after Todd cited the level to which Iran had enriched uranium.

“Should we really be getting into a war because of that?” “CNN NewsNight” host Abby Phillip asked Todd, who responded, “Because we know they have uranium enriched to 60%, which you don’t need for a civilian nuclear energy program, which, by the way, they don‘t need a civilian nuclear energy program anyway.”

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MSNBC announced on Feb. 23 that shows hosted by Reid and Alex Wagner would be cancelled as part of an effort to re-tool its lineup, also announcing that it was cancelling weekend shows hosted by Katie Phang, Jonathan Capehart, and Ayman Mohyeldin.

“In your view. So, how arrogant to tell them what they need,” Reid interjected, with Todd asking, “Whose side are you on?”

“They have been two weeks away since Bibi Netanyahu said it in ’96,” Reid claimed. “He said it to George W. Bush, he said it to Joe Biden, he said it to Barack Obama. He’s been saying they‘ve been two weeks away since 1996, when my children were infants.”

Israel launched a military operation targeting the Iranian nuclear program on June 12, striking nuclear facilities and targeting the theocratic regime’s top nuclear scientists and military commanders. Roughly two minutes after she appeared to intimate Iran was seeking a civilian nuclear energy program, Reid changed her tune.

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“The bottom line here is, the way that we know that Iran did not have nuclear weapons is that if they had nuclear weapons, Israel would not attack them,” Reid claimed. “The reason they’re trying to get nukes, and probably Saudi Arabia is trying to get them, is because an expansionist power in their region keeps threatening them and actually bomb[ing] them. And actually bomb[ing] them.”

“And the bottom line, I don’t think it’s okay that Israel has them, either,” Reid continued. “And so the bottom line is, Israel does not even subject its nuclear weapons to the IAEA. And so my question is, should anyone in the region have them?”