Iran has successfully enriched uranium, former Iranian President Rafsanjani told Kuwait's Kuna news agency on Tuesday. In March, the UN Security Council told Iran to stop its nuclear program, "or else", but the Islamic nation has all but ignored such warnings. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proudly declared that Iran would "soon join the club of countries that have nuclear technology."
While enriched uranium does not a nuclear bomb make, the United States and other western nations have reason to be concerned. Iran has been a glowering enemy of the United States and Israel since the shah fell from power in 1979, and is not above sponsoring terrorism in Lebanon and, more recently, Iraq. Iran insists that its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes – power plants – but few nations really believe Tehran's claims.
Like many countries in the Middle East, Iran has a rich supply of oil and natural gas, both of which are useful in creating energy. It makes little sense that Iran would defy the international community and keep pressing for nuclear capability if Tehran simply wants to keep the lights on. But, to have a nuclear weapon – ah – that's worth resisting all sorts of pressure from the rest of the world. In the eyes of power-hungry countries, nuclear technology gives a country prestige, respect. A country with nuclear weapons can force its enemies to listen, and can throw out its own "or else" warnings. Most importantly – and of great concern to the US and Israel – Iran could use a nuclear weapon to make a large hole where the world’s only Jewish nation now exists.
The United States cannot allow Iran to develop a nuclear bomb, but President Bush made clear on Monday that America has no current plans to attack Iran. The New Yorker and The Washington Post recently ran articles describing America’s secret plans to bomb Iran and destroy its nuclear power efforts. The government of course has worked out contingency plans – the "what ifs" that any responsible government has to think about and plan for. President Bush, however, called the articles about US plans to actually attack Iran "wild speculation" - which, he said, "happens quite frequently here in the nation's capital."
Answering questions about Iran, White House spokesman Scott McClellan called The New Yorker article "hyped-up reporting based on anonymous" former officials outside the White House. "Those who are seeking to draw broad conclusions based on normal military contingency planning are misinformed or not knowledgeable about the administration's thinking," McClellan said.
No, the US will focus on other means of persuasion for quite some time to come. While Iran is still firmly situated on America’s black list, and the President still considers it part of the "axis of evil", the United States is going to make every effort diplomatically to convince Iran to back away from its nuclear development program.
The big question is, will diplomacy work?
World pressure did convince Iran to finally, in 2003, sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. However Iran has since removed IAEA seals and prevented UN inspectors from making short-notice visits to its nuclear sites. On March 29 the UN Security Council mandated that Iran suspend uranium enrichment, however Iran has flatly refused to comply with the Security Council's demands.
