Iran’s Confrontational Stance Concerns Critics

Determined not to relinquish any of what he perceives to be their right as a sovereign nation, Iran's recently elected President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has decided that his country will proceed to develop nuclear technology, despite enormous international pressure not to do so. In accordance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the monitoring requirements of the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran had the IAEA remove the seals at the Isfahan uranium conversion plant, opening the facility back to full operation, that being for the enrichment of uranium. The enriched uranium can be used as fuel in nuclear power plants or, in higher concentrations, act as the key component for making nuclear weapons. Iran had voluntarily suspended its nuclear program in October 2003 under the immense international pressure that came about after the existence of their nuclear program was disclosed by an Iranian opposition group in 2002. The European Union and the United States say they are suspicious of Iran's nuclear activities because for 18 years prior to that disclosure, Iran hid its nuclear program, in violation of international law, and they are concerned that unrestricted, Iran will secretly attempt to create nuclear weapons.

The newly elected President of Iran, Mahmud Ahmadinejad. (Photos: Ray & Kimberly Feliciano)

Under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, member nations are allowed to develop nuclear energy so long as they are monitored by the IAEA to ensure that their nuclear programs are for peaceful purposes only, and not to develop weapons. To this end, the IAEA has now installed surveillance cameras and equipment, and will begin monitoring the production at the plant. IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky said the he would have preferred that Iran had not broken the security seals or resumed their nuclear program, but claims the plant “is fully monitored” and does not produce enriched uranium. That could be done, however, as a later step.

The resumption of Iran’s nuclear program followed the failed negotiations between Iran and the European countries of Britain, France and Germany, sometimes referred to as the E3. The negotiations aimed to dissuade Iran from pursuing their own capability to produce enriched uranium in return for promises to help Iran in developing a civilian nuclear program for producing energy. In the deal, Europe would provide Iran with the enriched uranium they would need for such a power plant, and then remove the spent fuel so that all the uranium was accounted for. Russia had previously offered Iran a similar deal.

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad rejected the package, calling the European Union proposal an insult to the Iranian nation. To accept the proposal would subjugate Iran into being dependant on other countries, and portray Iran as being a villain country that needs to be contained.

In a telephone conversation with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Ahmadinejad stressed that the peaceful use of nuclear energy is an obvious and legal right for Iran which cannot be ignored.

Europe and the United States, however, have threatened to take the issue to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions against Iran if it does not halt their nuclear program.

Cyrus Naseri, Iran's chief delegate said European countries should “think twice” before taking any action that might be considered “coercive.” He said, “That would be a course of action that would lead to a situation where everyone would lose.”

One possible threat implied in that warning would be for Iran to withdraw from the Nonproliferation Treaty if its case was sent to the United Nations Security Council. If they did that, by international law, there would be nothing legally to prevent them from producing enriched uranium for any purpose, including weapons production.

In an attempt to allay those fears, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious decree Thursday declaring that the “production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons” would violate the tenets of Islam. “The leadership of Iran has pledged at the highest level that Iran will remain a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) and has placed the entire scope of its nuclear activities under IAEA safeguards and additional protocol, in addition to undertaking voluntary transparency measures with the agency that have even gone beyond the requirements of the agency's safeguard system,” Khamenei said in the statement.

Some countries are not convinced that Iran needs nuclear power for energy. The country last year was the world's fourth-largest producer and exporter of oil, averaging about 4.09 million barrels a day, and has sizable reserves of natural gas. But Iran argues that a growing population and economy are raising its consumption rates, leaving it with progressively less oil to export. In addition, some scientists believe the world only has 30 to 40 years left of oil before it’s depleted. Nuclear energy can be a viable and efficient energy alternative. One half-inch pellet of enriched uranium produces as much energy as three 42 gallon drums of oil, or 1 ton of coal, or 17,000 cubic feet of natural gas. [See our feature story - page 8]

The U.S. bottom line, according to President Bush, is that “we don't want the Iranians to have nuclear weapons.”

However, since the United States has no diplomatic relations with Iran, they can only negotiate with Iran indirectly through other countries. The U.S. broke off relations with Iran in 1979, when Iranian students stormed the American embassy, taking 52 hostages at the start of the Iranian revolution that led to the theocracy they have today.