Iran in the News: A Political Analysis

By Simin Royanian, Revised June 3, 2003

On June 2, 2003 the New York Times (NYT) reports, “President Bush and the leaders of the major industrialized countries today urged Iran and North Korea to dismantle their programs aimed at developing nuclear weapons in order to eliminate a major threat to global security.”

Does Iran possess a program “aimed at developing nuclear weapons”?   The answer, according to all available information is: No, Iran does not have such a program.

According to news media reports in the US and around the world, including the NYT and the Washington Post (WP), Russia is building a nuclear energy plant in Iran in the port of Bushehr on the Persian Gulf. This plant is still under construction.   The Iranian and Russian governments are both signatories to the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).   The trade agreement between the two for the construction of the nuclear energy plant is in compliance with the requirements and conditions of the NPT.   In fact, Article IV of the NPT commits the Parties to the Treaty to “…undertake to facilitate . . . the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy . . . and to [contribute] to the further development of the applications of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, especially in the territories of non-nuclear-weapon States Party to the Treaty, with due consideration for the needs of the developing world.” [1]

The agreement between Russia and Iran for the construction of the Bushehr facility requires that Iran returns the spent fuel to Russia. Russia processes the spent fuel (extracting any component that could be used for nuclear bombs) and returns the waste for disposal in Iran.   The only remote possibility of the use of the returned waste is use of depleted uranium for bullets and armor.   The anti-nuclear movement has, for long, decried the use of depleted uranium by the US and its allies in Iraq, Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan.   It is the US government that has refused to accept responsibility and that considers the use of depleted uranium as legitimate.

This is not to say that it is acceptable for any government to use depleted uranium.   Iran is an unlikely candidate to use depleted uranium in a conflict, since Iran has not been involved in any war of aggression with any country and has never stated any intention of doing so.   The last war that Iran was involved in was the eight-year war with Iraq under Saddam Hussein. That war was the result of Saddam Hussein’s aggression against Iran with encouragement, support, and material military aid from the US. The point is that the US is hardly the government to decry the very remote and scant possibility of the use of depleted uranium by another government.

In fact, the North Atlantic Council of the United States (NAC), in its report, “Thinking Beyond the Stalemate in U.S.-Iranian Relations”, dated may 2001, states that “Iran has legitimate national security concerns, given the nuclear weapons capabilities of its nearby states and Iraq’s aggressive history….”. (p. 21)

Although the NAC does not name Israel, the fact remains that Israel is the only state in the Middle East with proven nuclear capability.   The Israeli government has the intention of remaining the only state with nuclear capability in the Middle East.   Israel has insisted that the US should do something about Iran.   On July 1, 2002, the Center for International Trade and Security at the University of Georgia reported that, according to The Jerusalem Post (June 26, 2002), the Israeli Defense Minister had noted that Iran would have a nuclear capability in 4 years and that , ” The whole world is sleeping while Iran builds a core nuclear infrastructure that is going to do something bad to the interest s of the world….”.   Israel is also hardly a source that can warn the world against nuclear weapons while she is the only proven case of a Middle East country which violates the NPT.

The other suspicious source of information quoted in the WP and NYT, claiming that Iran possesses nuclear weapons or a program on the way, is the Mujahideen Khalq of Iran (They are sometimes referred to as Peoples Mujahideen of Iran, and they operate under the name Iran Resistance Council as well).   This is a military Islamic organization which is on the US State Department’s terrorist list.   This group has run a military training camp in Iraq under the auspices of Saddam Hussein since the mid ‘80’s.   With the US occupation of Iraq this organization’s camp was bombed.   The Pentagon, however, has considered using them as an ally against Iran.   It is interesting that such respected American media uses this organization as a reliable and quotable source.

Reportedly, Iran has a uranium enrichment facility in the town of Natanz.   The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has visited Iran twice since January of 2003 and so far, has found Iran in good standing.   Iran has invited the IAEA to Iran for a more extensive and intensive inspection.   The IAEA inspectors are currently in Iran.   According to the WP of May 31, 2003, Dr. ElBaradei, head of the IAEA, stated, “But building these facilities does not automatically mean this is a weapons program, because they can have peaceful applications in a nuclear program dedicated to producing electricity.”

According to the same article, the Bush administration is pressing the IAEA to declare Iran in violation of the NPT.   If in fact, George W. Bush believes that nuclear weapons constitute a “major threat to global security”, he should be happy to receive a clean bill of health from Dr. ElBaradei as a result of their inspection of Iran.   That would eliminate the necessity of doing anything, aggressive or otherwise, to get rid of the cancer of nuclear weapons in Iran.   Similarly, any sane person who suspects the possibility of cancer in the body would be happy to receive a clean bill of health from their oncologist, so they would not have to resort to chemotherapy or other aggressive methods to eliminate the cancer.   Just as in the case of Iraq, the only reason Mr. Bush wants to receive a report of violation is to use it as an excuse to destabilize the government and impose violence on the people of Iran.

In summary, Iran is, at this time, a member in good standing of the NPT, while its accusers are a State Department designated terrorist organization; Israel, a government in violation of NPT; and the US, the only country that has deployed atomic bombs, uses depleted uranium, and, after the Iraq fiasco, has lost all credibility as a source of information about possession of weapons of mass destruction by other countries.

The only way “… to eliminate [nuclear weapons as] a major threat to global security…” is for the people of the world to put pressure on their own governments to comply immediately with the NPT and international law in general.    To guarantee security for people in the long run, it is necessary to work for just resolution of conflicts to bring about peace.

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[1] I am personally in agreement with the global anti-nuclear movement. This movement holds that the development of nuclear energy, at this time, is not safe and that the question of nuclear waste has not been resolved.    My discussion in this paper is focused on the accuracy of the US government’s accusations against the government of Iran.