How the Iranian Nuclear Program Affect the GCC Countries National Security - Research Paper Example

National security is the first priority in the survival of many countries. Since Iran’s declaration that it wanted to invest in the nuclear power program, GCC countries have seen that as a way of trying to define its state as an economic powerhouse and also a military hub in the region. In 2002, it was established that Iran was constructing two nuclear facilities secretly at Natanz and they were also constructing a heavy water research reactor at Arak (Perkovich, Radzinsky and Tandler, 2012).

This was a violation of the agreement of the International Atomic Energy Agency for failure to disclose its activities in deliberating the nuclear program. The security concern regarding the program immediately arose since the base could be used in the production of fissile materials that could be essential in the production of military weapons (Perkovich, Radzinsky, and Tandler, 2012).The Iranian government was however quick to address the situation by claiming that they were not interested in the production of nuclear weapons.

The IAEA had not produced any legible proof that Iran was producing nuclear weapons and so that worked as Iran’s reason to disregard the claims and the resistance that it was facing in the project. Iran has failed to give the agency all the information that would be important in ruling out whether its nuclear activities were peaceful and they should be allowed to go on (Perkovich, Radzinsky, and Tandler, 2012). The GCC countries on the other hand have seen Iran as a great threat to their political stability and the domination of the region (Perkovich, Radzinsky, and Tandler, 2012).

The Israeli-Palestinian struggle has been a great concern in the region and with Iran emerging to be the new power in the region it could shift its support to one side and alter the cause of the conflict to the worse. The conflict between the Sunnis and the Shiites that have a long history behind it can be re-manifested by the rise of Iran. Bahrain, a member of the GCC has welcomed a major naval base of the U.S. military in its soil to have insurance against the impeding conflict with Iran.Qatar, though it hosts significant U.S. military assets has maintained close relations with Iran and so at the moment, it does not view Iran as a threat to its national security (Perkovich, Radzinsky, and Tandler, 2012).

Kuwait has followed Qatar's ways and it has maintained close relations with it to keep itself safe from the wrath and the damage that can be caused if Iran decided to open up a nuclear war against the neighboring GCC countries. Saudi Arabia is the most concerned country following the Iranian nuclear program. The rivalry for power in the region has been a battle between the two and despite the fact that Iran has a larger size Saudi Arabia has been fighting to be the region’s power balancer (Perkovich, Radzinsky and Tandler, 2012).

It has received back up from the United States and so setting it as a powerful factor in the region.