How Should the US Address the Issue of Iran's Aspirations of Becoming a Nuclear Power - Term Paper Example

Its ability to advance this agenda comes from international and regional developments, such as the end of the Soviet Union in the year 1991, stopping of the war between Iraq and Iran in the year 1988 and the fall of Saddam’s regime in Iraq. In this regard, the fuel bank theory will also be discussed in details. Moreover, the paper analyses the Iranian nuclear danger from a historical and decision making point of view. A theoretical framework for dealing with the Iran’s nuclear power situation is provided.

It is explicitly clear that Iran’s desire for regional supremacy is as a result of it large territory, its significant geographical location, its large population, natural resources, contributions to human culture, status within the Islamic community and its military power (Ridgeon 37). Historical background In the recent years, Iran’s desire of becoming a nuclear society has attracted attention from the entire world. Many leaders globally have opposed the Iran’s nuclear programs even though they claim it’s for peaceful use only.

According to Iran, they wish to have the capacity to create material for research and power facilities. To a certain extend this argument is reasonable if at all there is inspection and accountability carried out regularly. The fuel bank theory is intended to offer assurances to third world countries and the world in general that reactor fuel suppliers can be relied on without fear of being manipulated politically. According to this theory, the underlying principle of guaranteeing suppliers for nuclear fuel is to develop original uranium enrichment capabilities.

By doing this, countries will be put closer to the difficulty of defining threshold between weapons applications and peaceful uses. Despite opposition from world leaders such as the US president, Iran continues to gain equipments that can give them the ability to create nuclear weapons. It has also blocked all efforts to scrutinize their facilities (Landau 78). Iran’s aspirations for becoming a nuclear power began in the year 1974 (Berman 85). At this time, Siemens Kraftwerk Union (KWU) from Germany had secured a contract to put up two turnkey pressurized water reactors.

The construction work started in the year 1975 and was scheduled to end in 1981. Shortly after Iran’s Islamic Revolution, the contract was cancelled then restarted after a few years. When the war between Iran and Iraq started, KWU abandoned the project. Russia accepted to take over the contract from KWU in the year 1992. Their construction work began in the year 1995. Moscow later on deserted completion work to propose a new design thus restarting the whole project from the scratch. The project was also interrupted in the year 1998 when the US pressurized Ukraine to renege on its subcontract to supply turbine generators to Bushehr (Podeh 72).

The construction plans have continued despite of significant delays on several occasions. Russia has insisted that it is just fulfilling its obligation to provide nuclear technology that is peaceful to non nuclear signatories. Iran is an oil rich country and for it to build a nuclear power reactor leaves many world leaders worried. Iran recently installed advanced centrifuges near the city of Qom with an aim of cutting uranium enrichment time. The concept of fuel bank has considerable support internationally but does not enjoy universal agreement.

Some supporters feel that the bank’