In 1981 Israel launched a surprise attack and destroyed the Osirak reactor in Iraq. It set back the Iraqi nuclear weapons program, but it did not eliminate the threat. The threat was finally eliminated with the invasion and ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003. In the intervening 22 years, the world watched as Iraq sought to not only reconstitute its nuclear weapons program, but Iraq actually spread out its programs to multiple sites and engaged in other WMD technologies as well.
The IAEA and intel agencies couldn't keep track of all the weapons programs and sites - and that problem is exascerbated in Iran, which has not had years of sanctions on weapons technologies, UN Security Council resolutions, and military strikes against its many weapons design, research, and production facilities.
Iran has had 22 years to prepare for this moment. They've dispersed their nuclear program, buried many of the critical assets in hardened bunkers, and done just enough to slide under the radar for far too long.
An airstrike against Iran's nuclear programs would not be a one-shot deal. It would have to be a sustained engagement, complete with special forces on the ground to insure that nuclear program facilities were indeed destroyed (not to mention capturing or eliminating those involved with the nuclear program - the braintrust behind the nuclear program has to be accounted for as well). There are far more targets, far more sophisiticated defenses, and more logisitical difficulties in attacking Iran's nuclear program.
This doesn't mean it can't be done. It just means that it will be more difficult to do. But the political will must be there to make sure that it is done before Iran goes nuclear.
UPDATE:
The clock is ticking....
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