Any new feature requires something that currently doesn't exist in the compiler. Just because the change would be larger doesn't make it worse, or at least this

Any new feature requires something that currently doesn't exist in the compiler. Just because the change would be larger doesn't make it worse, or at least this can't be the only argument. And if you do implement interface-based iteration with an Iterator interface, it's not hard to also add a ClosableIterator interface and have the loop handle the auto-close as well.