Is Iran a Threat to the U.S - Essay Example

Is Iran a Threat to the U.S? Starting out as allies in the Cold War period, U.S and Iran worked together against the Soviet Union, regardless of thefact that this meant U.S would be supporting oppressive regimes. This later changed, however, with the coming into power of Ayatollah Khomeini, who initiated the first ever anti-American rule characterized by radical Islam. This began with protests at the American embassy where Americans were held hostage and released 444 days later. This called for a more firm leadership in the U.S and this saw President Jimmy Carter removed from office and Ronald Reagan taking over. Further, on, in 1988, two hundred and ninety Iranians were killed by the USS Vincennes in a commercial flight. This sent the two nations’ relations into a deep freeze thereby, sealing the enmity of Iran and U.S.i Threats by Iran against U.S or any other nation that attempts to halt their nuclear program cannot be treated lightly. This is because if there were to be a missile attack on U.S defenses found in the Persian Gulf, it would paralyze the world’s supply of oil. Iran has boats that would fast-attack U.S warships and take them under; also, they have submarines that are not easily detectable and can carry torpedo faster than any ones from the U.S.ii Moreover, Iran has been working with Russia, China and other nations to inflate its defense and offensive capacities. Efforts have been made by the Obama administration to influence Iran to open their nuclear program to UN inspectors, in order to prove their peaceful nature, through imposition of financial sanctions. This has not worked as far as reiterated by Iran’s president who insists that the program is still ongoing.iii Being nuclear-armed allows Iran to adopt aggressive foreign policies, leading to greater conflicts with the international community. This is further exerted by the fact that Iran as it stands has the conventional military capacity to hit U.S coupled with backing from allied troops in the Middle East and Europe. In addition, Iran is identified as the largest sponsor, globally, of terrorism groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. It offers these extremist groups operational and financial support for their terrorist attack plans on U.S and the West. As hostility increases between Iran and U.S, there has been fear that Iran could share its knowledge on nuclear technology with those extremist groups.iv A nuclear-empowered Iran, together with their hostile regional policies, would raise fear among allies of U.S in the Middle East for instance, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, which would in turn make such countries consider shifting their alliances. Furthermore, the Middle East as an essential source of energy for U.S and the world is at risk of being destabilized if a race for nuclear arms is sparked by Iran’s aggressive efforts as it stands. This is because other nations in the Middle East would want to match the military capacity for Iran.v Nevertheless, it has been reported that Iran would not be able to sustain a military attack on U.S, as they would only hit once and U.S would counter-attack by taking out all their military capacities- both on land and at sea. The U.S army has the capability to undertake airstrikes on Iran’s military installations. To reinforce defense in anticipation of threats made by Iran so far, U.S has instituted routine patrols around the Persian Gulf using their aircrafts and helicopters. Moreover, the U.S army ships are armed with an assortment of guns that would infiltrate the fast boats and sink them in the event of an attack. These efforts have acted as a pre-emptive measures and Iran would therefore, have a difficult time overpowering U.S.vi In contradiction to the argument on the reality of Iran’s threat based on their willingness to offer operational and financial support to extremist groups, there is the counter-argument of the simple fact that anyone in power is always reluctant to give it up. Iran needs the extremist groups to exist as proxies, and this would not happen if they obtained nuclear weapons. Furthermore, Iran has been feared because of its impulsive president, Ahmadinejad, because of him being capable of issuing an attack on U.S or Israel recklessly.vii This is not a valid fear since Iran being an Islam state; power is settled upon a supreme guide where no one person can enact such a decision solely. Therefore, no matter the utterances made by Ahmadinejad, he lacks the power to enforce any real threat.viii Adding to that, there are the unsubstantiated claims by the International Atomic Energy Agency report that stated Iran was constructing a detonation device of nuclear capacity, with the help of a Soviet scientist. These claims have been refuted by a journalist who discovered that the Soviet scientist is in fact a researcher on nano diamonds and not a nuclear weapons scientist. Consequently, the conclusion has been that Iran is attempting to achieve nuclear capacity as opposed to developing a nuclear weapon. There is a likelihood of the nation developing a nuclear weapon still, though this can be explained by the fact that it merely wants to stay protected considering it is surrounded by U.S military bases.ix Although more recently, Iran’s senior leader has been seen to resolve to owning 20 percent enriched uranium below the 550 pounds threshold. If the country were to upgrade the uranium to weapon-grade, that is about 90 percent enriched, it would be able to produce an atomic bomb. Tehran is approximately around the same level, but they are using their uranium to support their research reactors, by converting the uranium into fuel plates. This move makes it almost impossible to upgrade the uranium to weapon-grade material. Iran, as well, has maintained that its enriched uranium is for the same purpose, as a fuel reactor, and for medical isotopes. This is allowable under International Law and hence, U.S conceded to a minimum amount of the same and suspension of operations at a nuclear facility close to Qom, a holy city within Iran.x Ayatollah Khamenei, a Supreme Leader of Iran, proclaimed a fatwa in opposition to nuclear weapons close to a year ago. This was then recapped by the Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson, Ramin Mehmanparast, this year where he expressly stated that the fatwa is obligatory. Therefore, the nuclear threat issued by Netanyahu and Ahmedinajad is not viable or likely to take effect. Mehmanparast stated that in proving the nature of the country’s nuclear activities, this fatwa acted as the fundamental guide of operational instruction. When expounded, the fatwa implies that owning of nuclear weapons by an Islamic Republic is a grievous sin that, as it is senseless, vicious and precarious. In addition, Iran has signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty that allows international inspectors to assess the nuclear situation. In real essence, U.S has created a more viable threat following its decision to use the Massive Ordinance Blast, a 30,000-pound bomb, were there to be an attack.xi Slightly over a year ago, the European Union embargoed Iranian imports and froze the Central Bank of India in an endeavor to deter their nuclear program. Besides that, U.S has imposed sanctions on companies doing business with Iran, the Treasury department has worked to freeze Iran’s financial assets and Congress aims to put an end to business deals with Iran’s Central Bank.xii This will slow the nation down but at the expense of its citizens who may find it hard to access food supplies, gas for transportation and conduct business. The concern then becomes for how long this action would hold out as a deterrent to Iran’s nuclear program. There is a need to adopt a new strategy in dealing with Iran, one that does not oppress its people and achieves a positive result rather than pushing the nation to further strengthen extremist groups and form alliances with other nations in the Middle East, against U.S.xiii In the end, U.S is faced with one primary challenge that is whether to consider military options or containing of nuclear attacks, if no compromise is reached within a year. It is inevitable that the issue of Iran’s nuclear program will continue to be a thorn in the flesh of U.S and it is becoming necessary that the program should be phased out as soon as possible. This is because its continued existence allows for other nations allied to Iran such as Tehran, to establish similar programs. This creates a volatile scenario in the Middle East, as there will be a nuclear arms race, which would be difficult to contain or monitor to ensure it is well within the allowable parameters. Either way, diplomatic talks between the superpowers- China, Russia, Great Britain, France, Germany and U.S, and Iran will go a long way in ensuring that it and Tehran do not go overboard when developing their nuclear capacity. However, there lies the problem of current relations between U.S and China. Consequently, viability of the threat will be dependent on the level of alliance among the super powers against Iran or any other nation attempting to develop a nuclear program. 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