Iran Bomb Policy Memo

I. Introduction/Background:
In the 1950s, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, former dictator of Iran began a nuclear energy program in Iran with the United States’ (US) support. Despite signing the None Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1970, the Shah of Iran continued the development of nuclear weapons with the help of Israel. In the following years (late 1970s) Israel intended to help Iran build along-range ballistic missile. However, the Iranian revolution caused the 40-year dictator to step down. Therefore, due to Israel’s favoritism over the overthrown Shah it never happened. After taking the Pahlavi dynasty down, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, returned to Iran on February 1979 establishing the new Islamic Republic of Iran. Khomeini regarded the nuclear program “un-Islamic” andcalled for its discontinuation. Five years later the Supreme Leader decided to continue the nuclear program for peaceful purposes. Nevertheless, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported a “clandestine supply network”. In 1987 the Pakistani nuclear scientist, A.Q. Khan, collaborated with Iran in the program’s development. This allowed the Islamic Republic of Iran to build centrifugeswithout going through trial and error. In 2002 the IAEA discovered 5,000 centrifuges in Natanz, which were capable of enriching massive quantities of uranium. This amount is unnecessary for other means other than intending to develop nuclear weapons. On another report in November 2011 the IAEA claimed Iran conducted activities "relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device". The UnitedNations (UN), US, Israel, European Union (EU), Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea, India, and Switzerland have implemented sanctions on Iran imposing financial, arms, travel, and trade bans, in order to force them to stop pursing nuclear weapons. Presently, Iran persists that its nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.
II. Stakes:
It is in the United States’ best interest toprevent the catastrophic consequences of a nuclear war. The U.S. has to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons through their nuclear program. Since Iran has previously been known to cooperate with terrorist organizations, the development of nuclear weapons would increment the risk of terrorists getting their hands on one. Iran has also publicly threaten and called for the destruction of the U.S. andIsrael. With nuclear weapons Iran’s dislike for these Nations can result in a nuclear war. On the other hand, Israel will not stand by and wait for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. If Israel decides to attack the nuclear facilities in Iran, Iran “will respond with an Iron fist to any attack,” said Khamenei. As an ally of Israel, the U.S. has to support Israel if a war occurs. This will affectthe American economy through military expenditure by sending troops or arms and economic support. Furthermore, the U.S’ loyalty to Israel would mean committing to arm combat against Iran. As a result engaging in an additional war in the Middle East, which could question the U.S’ motivations in this area even further. In addition, between the U.S. and Iran $623 million in trade were reached in 2008.Nevertheless, the recent imposed sanctions by the U.S. have decreased earnings through trade by 50%. Therefore, if the U.S. stops the nuclear program and lifts some trading sanctions on Iran our economy would go up.
III. Options:
NEGOTIATIONS
An alternative dispute resolutionwith Iran could be negotiating. In the interest of avoiding armed conflict between both the U.S. and Iran a bipartisan negotiation is necessary. The U.S. has imposed several sanction on Iran as well as frozen their property of the Central Bank of Iran. Such actions have harmed the economy of Iran at a large scale. Through diplomatic negotiations the U.S. can agree to lift up these sanctions if Iran...