Iran’s nuclear program is one of the most controversial issues that concern many nations, especially its neighboring Arab countries, Turkey, and Israel. Iran agreed to repudiate its ownership of weapons of mass destruction that includes chemical and biological weapons through various treaties. Iran has also ratified the NPT or the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (Federation of American Scientist), which made Iran’s nuclear program a subject to IAEA’s verification. Iran’s nuclear program was initially cancelled right after the revolution in 1979, but it was revived during the latter part of war with Iraq in 1988. It has portrayed pressure from international communities to suspend the country’s uranium enrichment based on NPT. One of the major ironies of Iran is its nuclear program itself, which became a significant political issue despite the secrecy of the program’s various details. Such program was originally part of the country’s effort to improve its self-reliance in terms of technology and military power during the 80s.
Effects of Nuclear program on Middle Eastern Nation
Currently, there are international concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program. In some cases, there are indications that a war between the United States and Iran is imminent. However, there are unclear areas pertaining to the actual status of Iran’s nuclear programs that affect the Middle Eastern nations as well as Turkey and Israel. Decades after the revolution in 1979, Iran continues to allow a constant inspection of the country’s nuclear program through continuous monitoring of International Atomic Energy Agency or IAEA (Watson Institute for International Studies 1). However, in 2003, Iran admitted that they were secretly enriching uranium. This is the process, which is needed for the creation of both nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Because of this admission, Iran it voluntarily suspended such enrichment program, but it did not last long as it started to enrich uranium again after three years when the country’s deal with international communities was not successful (Watson Institute for International Studies 1).
Iran’s decision to continue its uranium enrichment program caught the attention of the global community, including United States, as there is a high possibility that Iran would build its own nuclear weapon. The United States responded to this action, which is also an important action about other issues in the region. In fact, it has labeled the government of Iran as a terrorism sponsor due to its support towards the radical groups, such as the Hamas in Palestinian regions and the Hezbollah in the Lebanese region. This is just one of the many effects of Iran’s nuclear program, as the other Middle Eastern countries also expressed their side and reactions about this program.
Moreover, there were questions that have been raised in relation to Iran’s nuclear program. It is not the Middle Eastern countries that are being affected by this program, as the United States’ foreign policy is also being affected. Some of the concerns impacting United States’ foreign policy include a question about whether Iran is just planning to develop its nuclear energy or does it have a worse plan, which is the development of nuclear weapon.
The threat of Iranian nuclear program is an important matter due to its current and future potential effects. In fact, a possible nuclear weapon of Iran will produce severe repercussions against the United States security as well as its allies. One of the effects include the encouragement of Iran’s aggressive foreign policy, which will result to bigger confrontation with international community, especially the Middle Eastern countries (Anti-Defamation League). Additionally, the nuclear program of Iran poses a greater threat against the United States’ allies in the Middle East. In fact, Israel could be the most at risk country due to Iran’s leader’s previous declaration that Israel must be destroyed and wiped out from the map. On the other hand, other nations in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and other nations are already alarmed by this nuclear program. These nations are also worried about Iran’s regional policy in connection to the increasingly alarming threat of a nuclear-armed country, such as Iran.
If Iranian nuclear program would continue, it would likely create an arms race within the Middle Eastern region, which could also destabilize this vital and volatile region. This potential conflict may lead to unstable supply of oil, as the Middle East is the essential energy source of the United States and even the whole world.
In 2015, the United States made a deal with Iran in aim for providing limitations against Iran’s nuclear technology development (Welsh n.p.). Based on the nuclear deal between the two countries, it will provide better stability especially in the Middle Eastern region. However, such deal may also serve as a threat to isolate United States’ allies in the volatile region. Although there has already been a deal signed by different countries, such as France, Russia, Germany, and Iran, Some of the Gulf nations are still in doubt about the truthfulness of the deal. It has affected many nations to become suspicious about an alleged US pivoting over Iran. One of which is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that has current opposing side against Iran in the issue of Yemen conflict. Generally, United States allies in the Middle East are still suspicious and worried about the Iranian and United States nuclear deal.
The United States plays important roles in this nuclear program issue. The fact that the United States is facing the strengthened struggle to fight terrorism may not be disconnected from significant dimensions of its policy the Middle Eastern region, such as the United States’ effort in preventing Iran to acquire nuclear weapons (Wittes n.p.). Such effort relating to the nuclear development of Iran holds various effects to the region as stated by many analysts. Tsoran (1) said that is still firmly committed to develop the country’s nuclear program. Thus, Iran is also determined in developing a complete cycle of nuclear fuel that would give fissionable material to create nuclear weapon. These are some of the worries that many Middle Eastern Nations
After the Iranian nuclear deal, there been various effects that were reported. Such negotiations between the country and other major countries was said to be a narrow deal, as it only focuses on providing limitation on Iran’s nuclear development in exchange for relief coming from nuclear-related sanctions (Farhi et al. n.p.). Nevertheless, such deal that has been created could provide a wider effects for a nation that is strew with conflicts, which were intensified due to the interventions of various regional powers.
Iranian leaders are also aware that there is somehow a little desire for an aggressive posture to the population who are tired of war against their neighboring countries. However, the agreements that the Iranian proponents said that in spite of the limitations on the nuclear program of the country, such deal improved Iran’s security and even consolidated its regional power. In fact, Mohamad Javad Zarif in 2015 said that many foreign capitals created an idea of “Iranophobia” (Farhi et al. n.p.). This is an international perception against Iran that has been created by the international sanctions, which had been imposed to the country due to many nations’ belief that the country is an irrational and aggressive one, posing a danger against the international community.
Middle Easter countries also learned that Iran may not be bullied by any sanctions coming from the international community, such as any military threat or economic sanctions. On the other hand, some of the Iranian leaders wanted to eradicate the so called Iranophobia in many countries by providing resolution against their conflicts with Iran through diplomatic channels instead of coercion. The nuclear development and the history of Iran’s linkage to nuclear issues became some of the significant factors that created the unwanted effects against the Iranian government within the Middle Eastern region. It is perhaps presumably correct that the reactions coming from the international communities are the after-effects of the previous nuclear development attempts as well as the nuclear deal that was sealed years ago. The negative perceptions of the neighboring Gulf countries are representations of incomplete closure in terms of the country’s effort in upholding the signed nuclear deal and the suspicions as well as the worries of the neighboring countries.
It is evident that there are significant impacts that the Iranian Nuclear Deal creates against its neighboring countries. In 2014, a discussion was held by Middle Eastern Program of the Woodrow Wilson Center (wilsoncenter.org). It was emphasized in the discussion that although the members of the Gulf countries have progressed towards their cooperation with GCC or Gulf Cooperation Council, Iran is having a deal with the United States that was secretly facilitated by Oman. As a result, many nations in the Gulf region have expressed their concerns about the said deal between the two countries.
Effects on Israel and Turkey
The effects of this deal are very significant, not only for the region, but for the whole world due to some other underlying issues that may have been stimulated by the country’s nuclear deal. One of the countries that is greatly concerned with this nuclear deal is Israel. The Israelis are worried that the nuclear deal may provide legitimacy on Iran’s nuclear threshold, which will encourage the country’s destabilizing role as well as trigger any nuclear propagation (Herzog n.p.). In fact, Israel characterized this deal as a bad mistake in terms of historic proportions and most of Israelis believe that risks are higher against Israel compared to any other Middle Eastern nation. They claim that unlike the United States, their country regards Iran along with its radical alliance as the top and most serious threat against Israelis and the rest of the country.
Many Israelis are criticizing the Iranian nuclear deal because they claim that the deal will distance Iran from its capability to develop nuclear weapon in ten years’ time. For Israel, the deal is not certain, especially having a previous pronouncement from the Iranian government that Israel must be destroyed from the world map, which is quite threatening for the Israeli people. That is why; Israel, along with other countries, are not in favor of this due to its uncertainty that Iran will no longer develop its own nuclear weapon in the coming decades. Thus, it is not only the Israeli government that is being threatened about this nuclear deal. Turkey also expressed its position about the Iranian nuclear deal.
It is clear that the Turkish government does not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon (Stein n.p.). In fact Turkey is not in favor of Iran having its own nuclear technology development at all. This country is a member of NATO or North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which makes it one of the key players in relation to Iran’s nuclear issue. Although it opposes Iran’s plan to develop its own nuclear technology, Turkey is not threatened by this deal, claiming that Iran being a nuclear-powered nation is indefinite. On the other hand, Turkey remains as one of the opposing nation against the Iranian Nuclear deal despite its belief that nuclear weapon development of Iran is far from being fully established.
Works Cited
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Farhi, Farideh, Sarah Birke, Matthew Levitt, Hussein Ibish, Chuck Freilich, and Zachary Laub. "The Middle East After the Iran Nuclear Deal - Expert Roundup." Council on Foreign Relations. N.p., 7 Sept. 2015. Web. 3 May 2016. <http://www.cfr.org/middle-east-and-north-africa/middle-east-after-iran-nuclear-deal/p36963>.
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Stein, Aaron. "Understanding Turkey's Position on the Iranian Nuclear Program | WMD Junction." WMD Junction - A Journal Concerned with the Spread of Nuclear, Chemical, Biological, & Conventional Weapons. N.p., 12 Jan. 2012. Web. 3 May 2016. <http://wmdjunction.com/120112_turkey_iran_nuclear.htm>.
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Watson Institute for International Studies. History and Current Issues for the Classroom | Brown University. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 May 2016. <https://www.choices.edu/resources/twtn/documents/choices-twtn-iran-options.pdf>.
Welsh, Teresa. "Iran Nuclear Deal Makes Middle East Allies Nervous | US News." US News & World Report. N.p., 14 June 2015. Web. 3 May 2016. <http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/07/14/iran-nuclear-deal-makes-middle-east-allies-nervous>.
Wilson Center. "The Iranian Nuclear Deal and the Impact on Its Neighbors." Wilson Center. N.p., 23 June 2014. Web. 3 May 2016. <https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/the-iranian-nuclear-deal-and-the-impact-its-neighbors>.
Wittes, Tamara C. Risky Business: The United States Turns Back to the Middle East. The Brooking Institution, 2015. Print.
