Editorial
Iran Has a Right to an Independent
Nuclear Energy Program
On September 21, 2009 the Iranian
government sent a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
advising it that Iran is building a second uranium enrichment facility. The
U.S., Britain and other western countries immediately claimed that this
constitutes proof that Iran is planning to produce nuclear weapons. The Iranian
government reiterated its position that the enriched uranium is to be used to
produce electricity. The UN’s chief weapons inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, has stated quite categorically that there is
absolutely no evidence of any weapons program in Iran, although he agreed that
Iran should have disclosed the existence facility sooner. U.S. intelligence
sources claim that they have been aware of the facility for several years.
Talks between the six big powers and
Iran have been taking place in Geneva, with the U.S., Britain, and France
calling for further sanctions against Iran, while Russia and China taking a
more conciliatory approach.
The UN Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty
stipulates that every country has the right to develop its own nuclear energy
facilities and to possess the technology for uranium enrichment. In return for
a pledge that the non-nuclear weapons possessing nations will not use that
technology to develop nuclear weapons, the nuclear powers – the U.S., USSR,
Britain, France and China – agreed to gradually reduce and eventually eliminate
their own nuclear arsenals. Not only have the big powers failed to keep their
end of the bargain, they have also violated the treaty by secretly assisting
their allies, such as Israel, India and Pakistan, to develop nuclear weapons.
While the western powers claim that
their only concern is Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program, the real issues
have little or nothing to do with nuclear weapons, at least in the short term.
The U.S. and Israel are concerned that Iran has ambitions to become a regional
power, which would weaken their own hegemony in the Middle East. They are
determined to keep Iran weak and to return it to the subservient position it
held prior to the 1979 revolution. Israel possesses approximately 200 nuclear
warheads, the materials and technology having been illegally transferred to it
by the U.S. in contravention of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. It has
threatened to use those weapons against its neighbours
if it feels that its strategic interests are threatened. The ability to
independently enrich uranium provides Iran with the option of developing its
own nuclear weapons in a relatively short period of time if it feels
sufficiently endangered by the U.S. and/or Israel. So, Iran’s possession of an
independent enrichment program undermines the nuclear blackmail of Israel and
the U.S. in the region and weakens their control over the various Arab regimes.
They are, therefore, determined to eliminate that possibility by bullying Iran
into giving up any independent nuclear program.
Furthermore, with the specter of an end
to cheap oil facing the world, the importance of nuclear power generation has
increased in recent decades. Iran is utilizing a majority of its oil supplies
for internal energy needs, which is reducing its export potential. Nuclear
power will allow it to continue to export large amounts of oil for the
foreseeable future. Other countries are also looking towards nuclear power as
an alternate energy source. Just as the big powers have striven to monopolize
other sources of energy, especially oil, they are striving to monopolize the
sources of fuel for nuclear reactors. In the mid-1900s when only a handful of
countries possessed the economic, scientific and technological infrastructures
needed to enrich uranium, control of the enrichment process did not appear to
be a problem for the big powers as only a few other countries, such as Canada
were able to enrich uranium. Now, however, the situation has changed and many
countries either are able to enrich uranium or have the financial resources to
buy the technology. Therefore, a mad scramble has ensued to shut the door on
any new countries acquiring uranium enrichment technology and to re-write the
non-proliferation treaty.
A key aspect of the proposals being made
by the big powers is to limit uranium enrichment technology to the current
nuclear powers and to force every other country to purchase fuel from them.
They even suggested that Canada should give up its existing technology and buy
its fuel from one of the other powers. Since it would be politically unwise to
admit that their aim is the monopolization of nuclear energy, the big powers
are using Iran as a scapegoat to achieve their aim and are raising the bogey of
the proliferation of nuclear weapons as a smokescreen. No matter how many times
Iran has proved that it has no weapons program, the big powers have used their
monopoly position in the UN Security Council to maintain onerous economic
sanctions on Iran in an attempt to blackmail it into giving up any independent
nuclear industry. Although Russia and China have been less aggressive in their
stance towards Iran, they have still gone along with some level of sanctions as
they have the same strategic aim as the other big powers to profit from a
monopoly on nuclear fuels.
The position taken by the Iranian
government is a just position. Iran is exercising its right under the
non-proliferation treaty to develop an independent nuclear energy capability.
Given the constant threats from the U.S. and Israel to bomb Iran’s uranium
enrichment facilities, it may be reasonable for Iran to attempt to conceal the
existence of the second enrichment facility. It is important for all people to
realize that the big-power bullying of Iran on this issue is not just an attack
on the Iranian government and the Iranian people, but an attack on the rights
of all smaller countries to develop an economic source of energy in the face of
shrinking reserves of oil.