Why mess with Iran?

Home Opinion Why mess with Iran?

Currently, both of the major political parties in the U.S. are speaking against Iran and its nuclear program. The Republican Party seems to be taking a “line in the sand” approach, with many in the GOP rejecting the idea of even talking to Iran. Even President Obama is attempting to look strong by saying, “I don’t bluff,” in response to threats towards Iran. Why is there such a focus on Iran, and what are we so afraid of?

According to a recent CNN poll, 71 percent of people surveyed believe that Iran currently has nuclear weapons. With a statistic like that regarding a Middle Eastern nation, it would make sense in an election year that politicians would be eager to garner votes along pro-American and strong national defense lines. There has been talk of bombing Iran and even monetarily supporting the overthrow of their government. Surely there must be strong evidence that we have a great deal to fear from Iran. Surely our harsh rhetoric has actual substance to back its open proclamation.

But first, we need to look at what Iran is and isn’t allowed to be do under international law. As a signer of the “Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty,” Iran has the right to pursue nuclear power for energy and research purposes. They do not have the right to build a nuclear bomb. With this laid out, given our current stance on Iran, they must clearly be on the brink of a nuclear weapon or at least have stated their intent to achieve one.

However, the facts of the situation paint a completely different picture. In an interview with CBS, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, when asked if Iran was attempting to build a nuclear weapon, replied that they were not. Panetta also said, “The intelligence [regarding Iran] does not show that they’ve made the decision to proceed with developing a nuclear weapon.”

Another source to look at is the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) report. There have been various claims made about what this report has said. Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum even claims on his campaign website that the IAEA is reporting that Iran is on the verge of obtaining a nuclear weapon. The New York Times did not go as far as Santorum, but they still claimed that the IAEA report concluded that Iran’s nuclear program had a military objective. But yet again, what the mainstream seems to take as a given, is not substantiated by the actual facts. The New York Times editor had to issue a retraction for claiming that the IAEA had concluded Iran’s nuclear program had a military objective. The IAEA report, while raising some concerns about Iranian nuclear capabilities, does not conclude that they have a military objective.

With no proof that they are on the verge of a nuclear weapon, surely they must at least be talking about a desire to achieve such a weapon. Or maybe they are talking about attacking another nation. However President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei — the Iranian official that controls the military — both have declared that Iran does not want a nuclear weapon. Khamenei is also quoted as saying that Iran “will not commit aggression against any nation.”

Why are we so eager to aggravate? Is our peace really our goal in the region, or are we seeking to provoke a war with Iran? If the US rhetoric continues and we do follow through on our threats, if Iran truly isn’t developing a nuclear weapon, then they will be the ones with the moral high ground in any conflict. Given the U.S.’s already poor reputation in the Middle East, can we afford to be at war with a nation that has proof that the U.S. attacked unprovoked?