The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S Policy - Assignment Example

Introduction Nuclear power in Iran is one of the major advantages of the country. Iran was one of the countries which had nuclear power and it was revealed with the help of nuclear program. The nuclear power of Iran, its development and operations with the other countries are also explained. Iran joined hands with America and other developed countries to establish power plants and to improve the existing nuclear power to help them in the future. The paper focuses on the nuclear power of Iran and to emphasize on the importance of nuclear power. The paper also emphasizes on the operations of the power programs and the research centers that were developed in Iran. Iran, which is considered to be the country that has highest nuclear power established many nuclear power plants to use the power in an effective way. The power plants are the major source of income to the country. The European countries helped Iran to establish power plants and to use them in an efficient way. This article concentrates mainly on the nuclear power and the power plants in Iran. Iran has used the nuclear power to yield more profit to its country. (Benliot, 2001).Though most of the other countries were against the policy of using the nuclear power and establishing power plants, some of the developed countries have lent a helping hand to Iran. This was the greatest advantage and Iran used these opportunities to make use of the nuclear power. The nuclear revolution began in the year 1950 with the help of America to establish the Atoms for Peace program. This nuclear program was developed with the support from the European nations and the nuclear power program was successful. Iran went through a tough time to begin the power program. The nuclear weapons program was also developed during the 1950's and it became one of the serious issues of that time. Iran started to export oil and gas with the help of the nuclear power. This was achieved by Shah and the target was decided as 23,000 Megawatts. Since then the export of oil and gas became an important part of the country's economy. The Islamic revolution contributed to Iranian Revolution The Iranian revolution began in the year 1979.The nuclear power program was successful till 1979 and the Iranian revolution created many problems. The Iranian government struggled to maintain the stable situation of the government. The nuclear power program which worked effectively till then fell as a victim to the Iranian revolution. The export operation of oil and gas was temporarily suspended and the payment for the nuclear power was also stopped. (Erlich, 2003).The Iranian revolution then led to various other problems that contributed to the issues that arose in the beginning of 1980's. Though the revolution led to problems, it also had certain positive effects. The United States declared the nuclear power since it was in the preliminary stage and this was one of the reasons to the suspension of the export of nuclear weapons. Since this was against the norms of the government it created problems. The import, export or manufacture of nuclear weapons was completely against a country's rules and regulations. During this problem many people from U.S.A were kept as hostages in Iran. This led to a situation where U.S opposed the Iran's idea of nuclear plants and programs increased. The Iranian revolution was not favorable and most of the countries decided to stop their contracts and dealings with Iran. Though most of the countries did not deal directly with the nuclear operations, they decided to end their proposals and communications with Iran. The main aim of this revolution was to improve the existing situation of Iran. But the result was not as expected by the government and the neighboring countries. This article gave more importance to the problems that Iran faced after the implementation of nuclear program. The logic of the article lied in the explanation of the nuclear power and its impact on the other countries. The author emphasizes on the importance of the nuclear power program and the problems that Iran faced due to the import and export of nuclear weapons. Though the author has portrayed the problems that Iran underwent during the Iranian revolution, the facts behind these problems were not clearly explained. There were various other factors that influenced the other countries to abruptly stop their dealings with Iran. The Iranian revolution resulted in a drastic situation where countries like France refused to supply uranium. (Leventhal, 2002).Iran had been procuring uranium from France and the Islamic revolution affected this dealing. Even the European nation did not return the Iran's investment and this created havoc in the Iran government. The other countries like Germany, Argentina and America chose to discontinue their dealing and contacts with Iran. This was a great loss to Iran and this in turn resulted in various other problems. "Despite the early and sustained flow of nuclear technology to Tehran, Western governmental support for Iran's nuclear program began to erode ahead of the Islamic revolution of 1979. In August 1974, a U.S special national intelligence estimate declared that while Iran's much publicized nuclear power intentions are entirely in the planning stage, the ambitions of the shah could lead Iran to pursue nuclear weapons, especially in the shadow of India's successful nuclear test in May 1974". (Bruno, 2010). Conflicts of Iranian Revolution The Iranian revolution contributed to the prevailing problems and it resulted in various sensitive issues. The countries which were involved in the nuclear projects and programs were no more comfortable to continue their import and export with Iran. This led to a major loss to Iran. The government tries hard to revive the contacts, but the proposals went in vain. The article emphasizes on the fact that Iran did not make any external efforts to continue the import and export of oil and gas. The Islamic revolution did not yield any profit to the country and it made the existing situation worse. Once countries like France and America refused to supply uranium, Iran decided to procure uranium from South Africa. (Thornton, 2004).Due to the scarcity of uranium in Iran, they had to depend on other countries to continue the development of the nuclear power plants. During the 1980'sIran revived its contact with some of the countries and Iran also joined the Non-proliferation treaty in the year 1974. Though Iran had a memorandum with IAEA, the government signed this treaty in order to safeguard themselves from the problems that may arise with IAEA. The Nuclear treaty made Iran one of the powerful countries to have nuclear power plants. Iran - Iraq War The war between Iran and Iraq was also one of the major factors that influenced the nuclear power in Iran. Iran was worst affected during the war and Iraq remained unaffected. The reactors in Iran were completely damaged during the war and this was due to the attacks done by Iraq's air missiles. This led to a situation where the nuclear power plants and program were totally destroyed. The nuclear power supply and functioning of the power plant came to a halt. This changed the fate of Iran and they had to struggle to revive their power plants and to reestablish their power programs. In spite of signing contracts and treaties with various organizations and countries Iran had to suffer during the Iranian revolution and the war. (Squassoni, 2006). Most of the countries and other authors specify that Iran was not ready to co-operate with other countries. The major drawback of Ira's nuclear power was the inability to propose proper plants and develop them. Due to the negligence and improper maintenance the operations in the power plants got saturated. "Iran has had a nuclear program for close to 50 years, beginning with a research reactor purchased from the United States in 1959. The Shah's plan to build 23 nuclear power reactors by the 1990s was regarded as grandiose, but not necessarily viewed as a "back door" to a nuclear weapons program, possibly because Iran did not then seek the technologies to enrich or reprocess its own fuel". (Squassoni, 2006). The nuclear power plants all over Iran depended mainly on the other countries which supplied uranium. A research centre which was developed in the year 1967 was established in Teheran with the help of AEOI. This research center used research reactor which was provided by the United States of America. Since Iran signed many contracts and treaties with IAEA, the committee had the full control over the operations in the nuclear power plants. The government continued to establish and develop many new research centers and power plants all over Iran. The expansion of power plants began in the year 1981 when the government of Iran decided to establish power plants and continue the development of nuclear power. (Bruno, 2010).As the country was worst hit by the Iraq war, it took some time for the government to recuperate to the normal situation. Then the government proposed plans to open up research centers that could transfer nuclear technology. This proposal was a success and the country continued to develop nuclear technology. Another improvement was the introduction of fuel cycle technology and this was made possible with the help of the neighboring countries. The government decided to construct a plant that could manufacture fuel and this became a great success. The 1980's was a period of relief for Iran since the IAEA came forward to lend a helping hand to propose plans to Iran on fuel fabrication. (Currie, 2010).Uranium conversion and chemical engineering also became one of the predominant processes of Iran's power plants. With the assistance from IAEA and other organizations Iran managed to establish more power plants and research centers that could perform almost all possible operations and inventions with the nuclear power. Due to persistent pressure and problems from America IAEA had to withdraw some of its commitments from the Iranian government. This acted as a great drawback in spite of various improvements and developments. Though 1980's were considered to be a better period for Iran, certain problems continued to disturb the growth and development of nuclear power and this in turn affected the growth of the country. Countries like China continued to help Iran in its research centers and uranium conversion since Iran imported uranium from China. Iranian government continued to sign up treaties and agreements with IAEA so that they could help them in the implementation of new industries and factories. (Sumerlin, 2006). Iran's proposals for nuclear plants and export and import of uranium were accepted by most of the countries and they extended their support. (Sahimi, 2010).During the 1990's Iran obtained many new contracts and the major improvement was the research organization that was set up with the help of Russian federation. The experts and trained professionals from Russia helped Iran to improve their nuclear operations and this in turn helped them in the production and manufacturing of missiles. The IAEA conducted inspections and checks on the Iranian factories and power plants. (Calabresi, 2003).This was carried out to ensure that the operations that were done according to the norms specified by IAEA. Since the research centers and power plants were maintained in a proper manner, IAEA approved the proposals that were released by Iran. The nuclear program was found to be peaceful and they maintained the stability of the power plants. "Iran has asserted repeatedly that its nuclear program is strictly peaceful, stating in May 2003 that we consider the acquiring, development and use of nuclear weapons inhuman, immoral, and illegal and against our basic principles. They have no place in Iran's doctrine". (Squassoni, 2006). The other countries like Argentina revived its contact and agreements with Iran in nuclear cooperation which was already in existence during the 1980's. Due to the war and other issues Argentina decided to withdraw its nuclear agreements with Iran. This problem was resolved since Iran continued to establish more power plants and maintained the standard of import and export. The recent activities and improvements in Iran made the other countries to repent for their discontinued agreements with Iran. (Benliot, 2001).The success of Iran's nuclear power was made possible with the help of associations like IAEA and the continued effort to establish power plants was the major reason for the development of Iran. In spite of various problems and issues Iran continued to be one of the biggest nuclear power suppliers when compared to the other countries in the world. Iran continued to rule the roost in nuclear power and developed research centers that had world class facilities and trained professionals. This was the greatest advantage and Iran continued to improve in terms of nuclear power. Conclusion Iran is considered to be one of the largest countries that were involved in nuclear power generation. The important issue was the import and export of uranium which was necessary for the generation of nuclear power and other related operations. The Iranian revolution and the war with Iraq led to many problems. They played a spoil sport and this made the improvement to have a set back and Iran found it difficult to operate the nuclear industries. The agreements and treaties from associations and other countries helped Iran to continue its operation on the power plants and develop new power programs. The articles proposed a new dimension to the prevailing problems. Though the situation of the power plants depends on the other countries, Iran continues to establish new plants and research centers that deal with fuel cycle technology and uranium generation. Reference Benliot, Robert. Iran: Outlaw, Outcast, or Normal Country. New York: Nova Science Publishers, 2001. Erlich, Reese. The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S Policy and the Middle East Crisis. U.S.A: Poli Point Press, 2007. Leventhal, Paul. Nuclear Power and the Spread of Nuclear Weapons. U.K: Brassey's Publications, 2002. Thornton,Richard. World Energy: Empowering the Future. U.S.A: University of Denver, 2004. Squassoni, Sharon. Iran's Nuclear Development: Recent Developments.2006. 19 May 2010. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RS21592.pdf Bruno, Greg. Iran's Nuclear Program. (2010). Web. 19 May 2010. Calabresi, Masimo. Iran's Nuclear Threat. Time March. 2003. Sahimi, Mohammed. Forced To Fuel: Iran's Nuclear Energy Program. (2005).Web 19 May 2010. Currie, Duncan. Power Surge. (2008). Web. 19 May 2010. Sumerlin, Mark. Iran's Nuclear Path. The Weekly Standard. 12.1(2006):2-10. Read More