What’s just happened?
Iran’s nuclear crisis began in 2003, when a report from the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency triggered a resolution from the agency’s Board of Governors that laid out major points of dispute over Iran’s nuclear activities, some of which still remain unresolved.
What does this mean?
The nuclear crisis has been the most prominent challenge facing the Islamic Republic’s foreign policy apparatus since the 1980-88 war between Iran and Iraq. The serious political and economic consequences such as referral of Iran’s nuclear case to the UN Security Council and the imposition of harsh economic sanctions against Iran, are undeniable and have partly affected the political, economic, and even social realities of Iran.
Hostilities between Iran and the US date back to 1979 during the Islamic Revolution. The recent nuclear crisis is part of a broader set of issues including human rights, the Middle East peace process and energy. The complicated relationship between Iran and the West from the US perspective is that the nuclear issue is arguably an opportunity to unite the international community against Iran. From Iran’s perspective, the nuclear issue is an opportunity to resist US hegemony and its regime change policy. The nuclear issue is a matter of national consensus and pride that enables the Iranian government to unite the nation around the world but resist the West.
Iran has had a peaceful nuclear programme for several years. However, in the early 2000’s concerns arose that they were developing technology that could create nuclear weapons despite the country being a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 2015, Iran had reached a deal with the US, UK, France, China, Russia, and Germany. They all agreed to limit their nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief. This deal put many obligations on Iran, including restrictions on its enrichment of uranium, the amount of material they are able to stockpile, as well as the type of machinery used to perform enriching. In addition to this, Iran allowed international inspections.
U.S. intelligence agencies have long suspected Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover for clandestine weapon development, and the U.S. government have actively pressured potential suppliers to limit their nuclear cooperation with Iran. It is because of this reason that China did not supply Iran with a research reactor. The US then went on to block Iran’s agreement with Argentina for Uranium enrichment and heavy water production facilities.
At first, the then U.S. president Donald Trump abandoned the deal in May 2018 and restrained US sanctions. Trump wanted a deal that would curb Iran’s missile programme and its involvement in regional conflicts. Iran refuted this as the country’s currency plummeted and inflation rate soared as the sanctions took effect. As a result, Iran stopped adhering to the guidelines outlined in the deal.
In May 2019, sanctions were tightened Iran reduced its commitment to limit uranium enrichment. Since then, Iran has stepped up their violations, exceeding limits on its stockpiles of nuclear-related materials, boosting their uranium enrichment, as well as operating their banned centrifuges. Iran insists the U.S. must lift Trump’s sanctions before they will reverse their steps. However, the Biden administration have made it clear Iran must return to compliance first.
Written by Atiqa Ashraf
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References:
[1] El-Khawas, M., 2011. Obama's engagement strategy with Iran: limited results. Mediterranean Quarterly, 22(1), pp.93-113.
[2] Mahmood, N. and Cheema, P.I., 2018. Trump and the US foreign policy crisis. Strategic Studies, 38(4), pp.1-18.
[3] Mousavian, S.H., 2012. The Iranian nuclear crisis: a memoir. Brookings Institution Press.
[4] Takeyh, R., 2003. Iran's nuclear calculations. World Policy Journal, 20(2), pp.21-28.