Is Iran a threat to the U.S - Research Paper Example

Iran’s military also plans for a three-stage missile capable to hit targets some 3700 km away4. Despite Iran’s repeated assurances that its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes, the West and Israel believe that the Islamic Republic is striving to obtain a nuclear weapon, which is more or less substantiated by the latest IAEA’s report on the issue5. Alternatively, Iran doesn’t pose any serious threat to the United States because of the reasons below: Iran’s economy is suffering heavy blows with the country’s oil revenues being dramatically slashed and other trade disrupted due to the international sanctions6.

This would eventually hamper both the country’s geopolitical ambitions and military programs; The expansion of the Iranian ballistic missile arsenal, along with both space and nuclear programs, will drain the country’s resources sooner or later; The military capabilities of United States overwhelmingly exceed even the most unbridled wishes of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards; Iran has recently declared that welcomes a US offer of bilateral nuclear talks. With all the ambiguity of the possible outcome, such talks have the potential for a certain reconciliation7; The so-called Arab spring, or its after effects, whatever the case might be, would eventually reach the Islamic Republic.

Weighing the Pros and Cons The US-Iran relations have gone from bad to worse ever since the Shah’s fall from power in 19798. The hostage crisis, which lasted for 444 days, along with the American support for Saddam Hussein and the number of armed incidents involving US and Iranian air and naval units during the Iran-Iraq war, brought about a deep crisis in the bilateral relations9. The first Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had demonized the US as the “Great Satan” in 1979, which image was projected across the Middle East and beyond, as well as deeply embedded in anti-American rhetoric10.

Not surprisingly therefore, Hezbollah’s leader Nasrallah stated in 2002 - one year after 9/11 – that “our hostility to the Great Satan is absolute”11. Accordingly, Iran was placed on the list of rogue states, alongside Cuba, Burma, North Korea, etc., and was designated by the President George W. Bush as one of the countries that constitute the “Axis of Evil”12. The current Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, is renowned for his animosity to the US13, and if his power and the survival of the Islamic theocracy are in danger, he would not hesitate to order strikes against US targets within the operational range of the Iranian ballistic missiles, including military and civilian installations, as well as against key American allies, most notably Israel.

The anti-Semitic and anti-American rhetoric of the incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also implies such a possibility, although the real clout in Iran belongs to Ayatollah Khamenei and the circle around him. What makes the situation particularly precarious, however, is the fact that