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Iran's Nuclear Ambitions Undeterred

from the September 04, 2007 eNews issue
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Iran claims it now has 3,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the announcement on Sunday. He said that Iran would not abandon its nuclear plans in spite of UN demands. Instead he boasted that "they [the United Nations] were thinking that with each resolution the Iranian nation would retreat. But after each resolution the Iranian nation presented another nuclear achievement." Ahmadinejad also said that he will not be deterred by rumors that the United States may attack Iran. The devout Shiite President believes that Allah will protect Iran and that they "will be victorious." Meanwhile, President Bush warned that Iran's nuclear program could lead to a "nuclear holocaust."

The Sword of Allah

Iran is governed by Shiite Muslim clerics committed to a stern interpretation of Islamic law. Hatred of the United States has been a key component of Iranian foreign policy since the 1978 Islamic revolution, and Iran's leaders often refer to the United States as the "Great Satan." Iran's distaste for the United States is surpassed only by their utter loathing of Israel. Iran's political and religious leaders have repeatedly called for Israel's complete destruction.

The State Department calls the Islamic Republic of Iran the world's "most active state sponsor of terrorism." Iran continues to provide funding, weapons, training, and sanctuary to numerous terrorist groups based in the Middle East and elsewhere. Iran mostly backs Islamist groups, including the Lebanese Shiite militants of Hezbollah (which Iran helped found in the 1980s) and such Palestinian terrorist groups as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Iran uses such groups to carry out a proxy war on Israel and the West. It is therefore folly to allow Iran, and consequently its terrorist allies, to obtain nuclear technology.

Secrets and Lies

Iran claims that under Article 4 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty they have the right to develop nuclear technology. Iran insists that it is pursuing nuclear technology for peaceful energy purposes, but that leads to the obvious question: why would a nation with immense oil and gas reserves need nuclear energy? Iran claims it is building costly nuclear fuel cycle facilities to meet future electricity needs, while preserving oil and gas for export, but Iran’s uranium reserves are miniscule, accounting for less than one percent of its vast oil reserves. Iran controls 11 percent of the world’s oil reserves and its natural gas reserves are the second largest in the world. Iran does not have enough indigenous uranium resources to fuel even one power-generating reactor over its lifetime, but it does have enough uranium to make several nuclear bombs.

Iran has said that its goal is not to make nuclear weapons, but to develop nuclear energy. Which leads us to another important question: if Iran does develop a peaceful nuclear energy program, how difficult would it be to use that technology to make nuclear weapons? Nuclear power plants need 3 to 4 percent enriched uranium for fuel, but natural uranium only contains 0.7 percent. Thus uranium must be processed in a uranium enrichment facility before it can be used as fuel for nuclear power. What most people don't realize is the exact same technology and equipment used to enrich uranium for fuel can be used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons, it simply requires more passes through the enrichment plant. A nuclear bomb requires about 90 percent enriched uranium, which is high compared to the percentage found in fuel, but according to experts it requires more energy to convert natural uranium to fuel than it takes to convert fuel into weapons-grade uranium.

According to a report by the US State Department on Iran's nuclear program: "The costly infrastructure needed to perform all of these activities goes well beyond any conceivable peaceful nuclear program. No comparable oil-rich nation has ever engaged, or would be engaged, in this set of activities - or would pursue them for nearly two decades behind a continuing cloud of secrecy and lies to IAEA inspectors and the international community - unless it was dead set on building nuclear weapons."

Iran's covert nuclear activities are part of the Islamic nation's overall objective. Iran's ultimate goal is to reposition itself as a regional heavyweight. Iran seeks to be a counterbalance to US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, a vehicle of Islamic justice, and beacon for the rest of the Muslim world to follow.