Iran and the Bomb

President Barack Obama has announced to the international community that the state of Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon. Such ambitions would plunge the Middle East region into a security dilemma. This predicament would not only affect the security of states surrounding Iran such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan or Israel but Iran itself. Out of fear that Iran is pursuing or has a bomb, such anxiety will engender these Middle Eastern states to militarize.

Not commenting on whether this matter is an impasse or not, the issue generates a quantal response. One is that Iran’s road to acquisition is of the same dreadful magnitude as al-Qaeda garnering a nuclear weapon, assuming that Iranian officials are irrational actors similar to those of al-Qaeda. The second response is that Iranian officials are rational actors and would not dare put the security of their people at risk due to constant international and regional denunciation.

The problem with laboring beneath the illusion of the first response is that it has little faith in the Iranian regime. The United States has for too long placed Iran under the same category as Islamic terrorists. Undoubtedly, Islamic Terrorists and the Iranian regime essentially have a shared negative sentiment towards the U.S. but different means of showing it.

Terrorists voice their visceral outrage at the U.S. by inflicting collateral damage and causing civilian deaths on a massive scale. Iran reacts by defying western axioms and invoking a nonchalant character in the face of UN sanctions. With this in mind, it can be seen that the first response holds little if no water.

Response one is wrongfully entertaining the notion that Iranian officials, the heads of a state that encloses 70m people are irrational. Such an estimation of Iranian behavior holds true the atavistic nature of the Bush Administration and in this day and age should not be how the United States operates.

If the U.S. wants to move toward cooling the regional temperature, especially for Israel, Washington must act fairly. Commenting on Israel, Obama once said that the U.S. is good friends with Israel. But being a good friend also means being honest. Washington should ensure Israel that it is only fair that Iran, a sovereign entity pursue its nuclear ambitions and no external actor can force them to halt those aspirations. It is tiresome to incessantly hear that Iran is sensationalistic in its affairs towards the U.S. and Israel when in reality; Iran is acting as any rational actor would. Acquiring nuclear weapons does not always mean using them, for using them will ensure a disinterest for the Iranian regime. It is understandable that having faith and accepting such a liberal approach is travail. But, such an approach is needed for the sake of the future of the international community. Maybe this analysis is messianic, but it seems to be the most tangible response in the Watcher’s eyes.