IRAN
By Lyant Valentin Pérez Tatiana Véronèse Nicolas

I) Introduction :

At the end of the year 2005, the Iranian Government caused a rebirth of fear in the western nations by announcing its intention to restart its Nuclear Program. This decision created a wide movement opposed to this action.

USA and the United Nations are the actors the most involved on the struggle against the Iranian quest in the nuclear field. They are afraid that, behind the nuclear fuel, Iran may be trying to discover the Nuclear Weapon, a fact which should have enormous repercussions on the geopolitical situation in this part of the world.

On the other hand, Iran reacted very strongly, arguing that Nuclear is the best source of energy according to the actual knowledges and that it wouldn’t be fair that the most powerful nations in the world be allowed to access to nuclear fuel and not poor countries. What is more, the Iranian Government said that, with its program, Iran isn’t going to violate the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and has invited UN experts to come and see all the installations and factories of the project.

II) Analysis and Critics:

The problem about this situation is that the protagonists, Iran on the one hand and western countries on the other, are all convinced of the right they have to defend their positions. They all think that the opponent is wrong and are trying to demonize him despite the fact that they officially have diplomatic relations in order to find a solution to this crisis.

The first article, from the Independent, provides a wide overview of the opinions of the western nations. Their greatest fear on this question is that Iran may use a civilian nuclear program to create weapons. This fear is reinforced by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ‘s speech in which he called the Muslim nations to “wipe Israel from the map”. This bellicism and the power the nuclear bomb may give to Iran are an understandable subject of worry for the west allied to Israel and more generally involved in the problem of Terrorism. The Governments of these nations have a dual strategy there, which may generate a conflict with Iran : they are trying to negotiate directly with the Iranian Government, to make it stop the nuclear program and they are, at the same time, asking the UN Security Council for sanctions.

The second article, that of the Observer, shows us the point of view of the Iranian authorities, who are convinced that the USA and the EU are economically interested in the failure of the nuclear program. For the Iranian President, the western nations would rather Iran remained a poor country, dependant on oil exportations. In this way, the USA and the EU are going to be able to dominate the market and impose their prices. But if Iran earns its independence in energy, it’s going to be able to have a marge of freedom in the negotiations on oil transactions. That’s why the USA and the EU are trying to impose sanctions on Iran with the UN Security Council. This reaction by the western Nations might create a worse situation than the one we are currently experiencing because Iran is threatening to put an end to all diplomatic relations about nuclear programs and all visits of UN experts on Iranian nuclear factories.

III) Commentaries

The two articles are very interesting because they present the different points of view in this conflict. The Iranian President seems to be playing a very important role in the issue. Since he came to power in June, he has always made hostile statements. At first, he said that Israel should be wiped off the map, and that the Jewish genocide had never existed. Then he began the conflict about his nuclear programme. Iran is not allowed to develop nuclear weapons, but it seems that is what it is trying to do. Not only Iran ’s expanding its nuclear power, but Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is also proclaiming this from the rooftops, and now the western countries are afraid this might be dangerous. According to Iran , the nuclear programme only concerns civil energy, as in a lot of western states. The UN has sent watchdogs to Iran , and they found materials wich could be used to create nuclear weapons. So now Iran could be punished by the Security Council.

This conflict concerning nuclear power seems to be a pretext for Iran to clash with western countries. The statements of the president are very aggressive. We may wonder what he really wants, if it is just a conflict about nuclear power, or if he wants to go to war against Europe and the USA . Anyway, the UN must stop Iran before it gets nuclear weapons. But is it strong enough to make Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accept its sanctions? As he has already said, "You need us more than we need you. All of you today need the Iranian nation": he doesn't seem ready to respect the international law and the UN.

IV) Articles

1) Iran : The nuclear nightmare

Tehran 's defiance sparks fears of a regional showdown

By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor, The Independent

Published:  13 January 2006

The confrontation between Iran and the West deepened yesterday as both sides hardened their positions over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.

The confrontation between Iran and the West deepened yesterday as both sides hardened their positions over the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.

The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany announced that more than two years of negotiations with Iran over its suspected nuclear weapons programme were at a "dead end" and they urged the UN nuclear watchdog to call an emergency board meeting to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions, accusing Tehran of a "documented record of concealment and deception". Diplomats said the talks at the Vienna headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would probably be held in the first week of next month.

The Iranian leadership stood firm in response. "We are not worried about our nuclear case being sent to the Security Council," Gholamreza Rahmani-Fazli, the deputy secretary of Iran 's Supreme National Security Council, said on Iranian television. Earlier, the former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani said on radio that the stand off had "become very serious and has reached its climax". He said Iran intended to press on with its nuclear programme and had no intention of complying with " colonial taboos".

Western fears that Iran is bent on developing a nuclear weapon have been fuelled by statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad since his election in June last year. He has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map" , and Iran has taken steps since August to reverse commitments to the international community on freezing its uranium-related activities. The most serious step came on Tuesday, when the Iranians broke UN seals at its uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, which can be used to produce weapons-grade material.

As a result, Iran is faced with the real possibility of being referred to the UN Security Council for sanctions for the first time after more than two years of talking to the Europeans about curbing its nuclear activities.

Iran insists that its intentions in pursuing nuclear technology are peaceful. But the West has continued to harbour suspicions because of the Iranians' refusal to come clean on the extent of its nuclear programme, which was concealed from inspectors for 18 years. There also questions as to why oil-rich Iran , with its vast energy reserves, is so keen to develop nuclear energy.

Last week, a leaked EU intelligence assessment provided more details about companies and middlemen used by the Iranians in their search for nuclear suppliers in Europe and the former Soviet Union . The report provided no proof, however, that the materials were destined for a nuclear weapon.

Hans Blix, the former chief UN weapons inspector who headed the UN nuclear watchdog, said: "I think some of the Iranians want to go to nuclear weapons." He pointed to a 40-megawatt heavy-water plant at Arak , which could produce enough plutonium for a nuclear bomb, as a sign that Iran may not have purely peaceful intentions.

A former Israeli general said he recently met Iranian figures in Europe who told him Tehran was "very determined" to acquire nuclear weapons. Uzi Dayan said his informants had an Iranian academic and civil servant background and represented "the official Iranian position". Israel has refused to rule out a possible pre-emptive military strike on Iran .

The European statement issued after the ministers' talks in Berlin stressed that the current dispute is "about Iran 's failure to build the necessary confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme. Iran continues to challenge the authority of the IAEA Board by ignoring its repeated requests and providing only partial co-operation to the IAEA." The statement noted that this is not just a dispute between Iran and Europe "but between Iran and the whole international community" . It said it was important for the credibility of the non-proliferation regime, as well as the stability of the Middle East region, "that the international community responds firmly to this challenge".

The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, urged the UN Security Council to maintain the pressure on the Iranians.

However, Iran argues that it has a right under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty to enrich uranium, and has informed the IAEA that it only intends to conduct small-scale enrichment at Natanz . The Europeans and US could face difficulties in referring Iran to the UN Security Council for breaking a moratorium which was voluntary in the first place, and without the IAEA declaring Iran to be in breach of its obligations.

The Europeans and the US stressed that they still hope for a diplomatic solution to the stand off. But some analysts said it was a mistake by the Europeans and the Bush administration in recent days to use threatening language that could force Iran into even more extreme positions

2) West is in dark ages, says Iran 's President

Robert Tait in Tehran , The Observer
.Sunday January 15, 2006

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hardline President of Iran, launched an angry tirade against the West yesterday, accusing it of a 'dark ages' mentality and threatening retaliation unless it recognised his country's nuclear ambitions.

In a blistering assault, Ahmadinejad repeated the Islamic regime's position that it would press ahead with a nuclear programme despite threats by the European Union and United States to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, where it could face possible sanctions. He added that Iran was a 'civilised nation' that did not need such weapons. Iran insists its nuclear programme is a wholly peaceful attempt to generate electricity.

Addressing a rare press conference in Tehran , he appeared to issue thinly veiled threats against Western countries, implying that they could face serious consequences unless they backed down. 'You need us more than we need you. All of you today need the Iranian nation,' Ahmadinejad said. 'Why are you putting on airs? You don't have that might.'

Reminding the West that it had supported the monarchical regime of the former Shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi - overthrown in the 1979 Islamic revolution - he went on: 'Those same powers have done their utmost to oppress us, but this nation, because of its dignity, has forgiven them to a large extent. But if they persist with their present stance, maybe the day will come when the Iranian nation will reconsider.' He added: 'If they want to deny us our rights, we have ways to secure those rights.'

Ahmadinejad, an ultra-Islamist populist elected last June, did not elaborate on his apparent threat. But Iran is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and analysts have predicted that any disruption to its supplies could have a grave impact on global markets.

The Iranian President's outburst - the latest in a series asserting Iran 's nuclear rights and questioning Israel 's right to exist - came after the EU last week effectively abandoned two-and-a-half years of negotiations with the Iranians. The move came after Iran decided to remove UN seals at a nuclear plant in Natanz, enabling it to resume research into uranium enrichment, a process that can be used to produce a nuclear weapon.

The EU, backed by the United States , is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to discuss Iran 's possible referral to the security council. The next phase of the intensifying diplomatic pressure on Iran takes place in London tomorrow when officials from the EU, US, Russia and China gather to discuss future strategy.

Ahmadinejad accused the West of misusing bodies such as the UN and IAEA. 'Why are you damaging the good name of the security council and IAEA for you own political purposes?' he asked. 'Don't take away the credibility of legitimate forums. Your arsenals are full to the brim, yet when it's the turn of a nation such as mine to develop peaceful nuclear technology you object and resort to threats.'

In an apparent effort to cast the nuclear issue as one that could unite all Iranians and appeal to nationalist sentiment, Ahmadinejad spoke against the backdrop of a picture of the Damavand volcano, widely seen as a patriotic, non-religious symbol. But he did not withdraw his remarks, warning that Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who on Friday condemned his comments as 'unacceptable', would be tried as 'terrorists' and 'war criminals' due to their support of Israel.

German Deputy Foreign Minister Gernot Erler yesterday called for travel restrictions on Iran 's politicians. He told German radio that economic sanctions would be 'a very dangerous path' and could hurt both sides. Germany is the biggest exporter to Iran .