Ten reasons Iran does not want a nuclear bomb

A US-based Iranian research scholar has outlined ten reasons why Iran is not seeking a nuclear bomb, saying it is time for the West to acknowledge the reality that pressures on Tehran have been ineffective.

“The West should enter into a genuine, face-saving and realistic solution, rather than continuing to push aggressively and ineffectively against Iranian nuclear development,” Seyyed Hossein Mousavian wrote in an article published on the National Interest website.

The scholar referred to “religious obligations” as the first reason why Iran does not seek to build a nuclear bomb, saying that based on the fatwa by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei “the use of nuclear weapons and all other types of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) is forbidden…constituting a sin.”

He mentioned “lack of long-term advantage” in the possession of nuclear weapons as the second reason, saying that based on Iran’s assessment the possession of a nuclear bomb will have no long-term regional advantage and would trigger a regional nuclear arms race.

He added that, Iran’s “technology choices” is the third reason why the country is not after nukes. “The technical configurations Iran has chosen for its nuclear program, demonstrate a preference for a robust enrichment capability rather than for a rapid nuclear weapons breakout capability.”

Mousavian said possible “isolation” of Iran is the fourth reason dissuading Tehran from developing a bomb, stating, “Iran recognizes that by becoming a nuclear weapons state, it will compel Russia and China to join the US and implement devastating sanctions that would paralyze the Iranian economy.”

The scholar then argued that Iran’s prominent politicians believe that possessing nuclear weapons would be an obstacle in the long-term for Iran’s access to vast technological cooperation with developed countries and this is the fifth reason why they do not want a bomb.

Mousavian further stated that Iran does not want to develop a bomb in order to prove its “goodwill” to international community.

As for the seventh reason, he stated that Iran has never tried to stockpile enough enriched uranium to make a bomb because it “…requires 27 tons of uranium enriched at 3.5 percent level annually to provide fuel for its only nuclear power plant in Bushehr. Up to now, Iran has produced about 7 tons and needs an additional 20 tons.”

The scholar said Iran’s offers on uranium enrichment during talks with world powers is the eighth reason proving that Tehran has no plan to develop a nuclear bomb.

“At a meeting between EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton and Iran’s leading nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili on September 19, Iran once again offered to suspend its enrichment of uranium to 20 percent, provided proportionate reciprocation would be taken by P5+1.”

Mousavian stated that Iran does not need the bomb as “deterrence” against US and Israel, while it does not need it to prevent efforts aimed at “regime change” by the United States and the West either.

“Paradoxically for some, Iran without nuclear weapons has become more powerful year after year in the past 34 years, stymieing Western efforts to bring about the collapse of the regime.”

Mousavian concluded by saying, “These are just a few reasons the West should enter into a genuine, face-saving and realistic solution, rather than continuing to push aggressively and ineffectively against Iranian nuclear development.”