Military Aspects Of A Nuclear Armed Iran

Iran ranks second globally in natural gas reserves and fourth in proven crude oil reserves (Penn Wharton). In 2014, oil accounted for 20% of Iran’s GDP, so government expenditures count heavily on their oil exports and prices heavily. Since the 1950’s, the U.S. has played a major role in manipulating Iran’s oil and their dependance on oil. The United States’ foreign policies and relationships in Iran have seemed to be created to take advantage of Iran’s oil-rich markets. Not only that, but new sanctions that have been put on Iran’s nuclear program which has severely hurt them because these sanctions have costed them to lose over $500 billion in oil revenues through the sanctions, research, construction, and operation. Although the U.S. has hurt Iran financially, it is very important that they stay involved with them because they are one of our main sources to get petroleum from and if the U.S. can stay on good terms with them, it will benefit both nations economies.

Now is the time to use the power of American diplomacy to pressure Iran to stop their illicit nuclear program, support for terrorism, and threats toward Israel. Obama and Biden will offer the Iranian regime a choice. If Iran abandons its nuclear program and support for terrorism, we will offer incentives like membership in the World Trade Organization, economic investments, and a move toward normal diplomatic relations. If Iran continues its troubling behavior, we will step up our economic pressure and political isolation. In carrying out this diplomacy, we will coordinate closely with our allies and proceed with careful preparation. Seeking this kind of comprehensive settlement with Iran is our best way to make

Currently, numerous sanctions target the Iranian economy. These sanctions are implemented and enforced by the United States of America, The European Union, and several other United Nation members to include; Japan, the Republic of Korea, Canada, Australia, Norway, Switzer. Fathollah-nejad, A. (2013). These measures are necessary to enforce international laws through means other than war.

A regime change in Iran could see the lifting of American trade sanctions against Iran; U.S. sanctions have had an impact on Iran’s oil economy. Mohammed Akacem, a petroleum expert at Metropolitan State College of Denver said, “U.S. oil companies would love to go to Iran, so sanctions have retarded a little bit of Iran’s ability to improve its oil sector (qtd. in Beehner).” Securing another efficient source of oil would help to ease the American economy as alternative energy sources are developed, and workers are trained to perform the

In his paper about Iran’s nuclear program, Barry R. Posen emphasized that Iran’s nuclear program may result on regional and global instability. On regional level, neighboring countries of Iran will feel threatened with Iran’s nuclear power. This situation may lead them to follow Iran’s step in developing nuclear weapons even though they do not have the capability to ensure the security of their nuclear sites. Clearly, nuclear weapons proliferation will put the Middle East in escalating dangerous situation. On global level, the U.S. and its allies are concerned that the situation in the Middle East may harm their national interests. The Middle East is still a prominent producer of oil which is the main energy resource for industrial

The White House’s information page clearly states that sanctions will be re-imposed on Iran if they engage in the following: development of ballistic missiles, continued support of terror, the action of de-stabilizing regions (Syria), and converting Iran currency into the US

Is preemptive military attack or patient diplomacy the best way to deal with Iran and its development of nuclear weapons? According to Norman Podhoretz he believes that in the event of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons it would result in a devastation because they pose such an enormous threat towards many nations around the world such as the United States and their opponents in the Middle East. But on the other hand Christopher Hemmer believes that if Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons it can pose a threat to the United States. He believes that patient diplomacy would be the best alternative to deal with Iran. Iran having nuclear weapons not only affects United States, but will also affect the world, especially the near east.

Largely, the use of economic instrument of power encourage countries to comply with U.S. foreign policy. I would argue that as long as the U.S.'s foreign policy is of moral merit and consistence with its national values, it is preferable to use economic sanctions to promote the foreign policy of other nations like Iran leaders who refused to come to solve the problem in a peaceful manner. In contrary, compromising the sanctions in the name of morality will be a dangerous business for the security of the world as a whole and for the security of the U.S and its allies and partners in the Middle East and Europe in particular. Hence, I would say that the sanction made by the U.S was the right instrument utilized to shape the behavior of Iranian

Around 2003, the hidden Iranian plan of becoming a nuclear power and producing atomic bombs was revealed by a major opposition group: Mojahadeen. The U.S and other Western countries have been seriously discussing this matter with Iranian authorities after they verified the validity of the news. Iran has undergone billions dollars in expenses, in attempts to gain nuclear power. Generally, the main sanctions are divided into four different groups: U.S sanctions (Executive Order), European sanctions, UN sanctions, and sanctions imposed by the U.S congress. During the beginning years, the effect rate of sanctions weren 't very high until sanctions were imposed on Iran’s oil/energy sector and the banking system (Slavin, 2007).

The ruthless dictators of North Korea said that they have long had a hostile relationship with U.S. vowing to destroy America and wipe it off the map(2).North Korea's nuclear program is particularly alarming for the U.S. and its allies in Asia such as Japan and mostly South Korea(2). They are worried because a single bomb can wipe out an entire city and kill over millions of people(2). For over the past two decades U.S. has tried to limit North Korea's nuclear capabilities through negotiative and tough economic sanction but neither worked(2). The realty experts say is that there isn't a good solution.(2) Most officials agree that North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons program. (2)Bush of the Brooking Institutions says, ¨ If there was a solution to this we would have had it a long time ago.¨(2). Therefore the U.S. sanctions are ineffective when it comes to the nuclear weapons because of these

“Since 2005, U.S. policymakers have increasingly turned to sophisticated types of economic sanctions as a foreign policy tool of first resort. From the development of banking sanctions limiting Iran’s ability to secure financing from Western capital markets to new sanctions targeting Russia’s financial system and the development of its oil resources, U.S. policymakers have touted these innovative tools as extremely powerful while also being tailored and precise.” (Feaver & Lorber, 2015)

Kenneth Waltz, Senior Research Advisor at the Saltzman Institute for War and Peace, explains that most Western and Israeli commentators are horrified of the thought of an Iranian nuclear weapon. However, historical record indicates that if a country is bent on acquiring a nuclear weapon, the country is rarely dissuaded from doing so. Sanctions now, he explains, makes Iran even less likely to change their mind―feeling most vulnerable, Iran seeks protection of a deterrent (Waltz “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb). Instead of viewing sanctions as a failed policy for their inefficiency, it should be viewed as a failed policy for targeting a non-existent and unimportant problem Although the world views proliferation as a pandemic, my argument is that Iran should have a nuclear weapon because nuclear weapons help countries de-escalates and deters conflicts, its weapon will not be a threat, and nuclear weapons increases the diplomatic power of the holder.

Generally speaking we live in a world that is safer than at any other point in our history. Even so, we have become accustomed to the inevitability of conflict because there is no central authority. There is only a large number of actors participating in an arena with very limited rules and enforcement, so uncertainty is an accepted and expected part of global politics. Given the level of uncertainty and self-interest in such a setting there is unavoidable conflict, but conflict doesn’t necessarily equate to violence. History has proven time and time again the perils of interstate fighting which makes tools of statecraft that do not involve violence attractive politically and even tactically. Economic sanctions are by no means a perfect one-size fits all solution and the ultimate tool to change behavior is still military intervention, but non-violent tools of coercive diplomacy are used every day and have more power than ever before. As the strongest tool of coercive diplomacy that we have today they carry more weight than diplomatic pressures and can convey seriousness without resorting to the costly consequences of force. Sanctions are an attractive solution to many cases of discord, but it is important to note that the consequences of economic coercion can be great for both parties involved and have unforeseen consequences, so they must be used with discretion.

Once the Pahlavi dynasty was overthrown and the country perceived to be taken over by Islamic extremists, the West began researching the development process to make sure the wrong weapons would not fall into the wrong hands, but the capital Tehran encouraged the fact that it was strictly for peaceful purposes. Lies and deceit possessed the rest of the negotiations as both sides tried to get straight answers to understand what was actually going on in the nuclear program, but nevertheless those answers were never found as they were clouded by a long standing hatred between certain Islamic groups and the Western world(). More recently, ten years ago the International Atomic Energy Agency sent agents to inspect Iran’s nuclear facilities and they found trace amounts of enriched uranium at a factory in Natanz, which led to a three-year halt on Iran’s uranium enrichment. After those three years, the enrichment process resumed and the U.N. Security Council responded in 2006 by placing sanctions upon the country’s economy in an effort to curb any further nuclear development. These sanctions, which include a ban on purchasing Iranian oil, a ban on certain Iranians from traveling outside of the country, and a ban on deals with financial institutions from the country, severely crippled Iran’s economy forcing their oil revenue to collapse and creating an almost absurd amount of inflation. Despite this, uranium enrichment has not slowed down for the Iranians as the

Due to the severity and danger of nuclear weapons, it is very important for nations to have some sort of regulation with regard to the nuclear program and more specifically their nuclear weapons program. After the first nuclear bomb was created by the U.S. nations states that followed the U.S. with the creation of a nuclear bomb seek to justify their creation of the nuclear. There are many reasons why a nation state will create a nuclear bomb but the key issue here is why and how nations states should be regulated with regard to nuclear weapons development. If Iran is considered a potentially hostile regime based on the perspective of western allies it would be logical to attempt to negotiate with them so that their nuclear program can have some type of regulation rather than no regulation at all or striving to strong arm them from developing their nuclear program and possibly a nuclear weapons program.