Country Watch
A Look at the Economic, Political, and Social Events that Shape International Law Around the World
Iran and Foreign Powers Negotiate Over Iran’s Nuclear Program
Iran’s nuclear history goes back to before the Iranian Revolution in 1968 when Iran signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The NPT is an in- ternational treaty with the objective to “prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology”.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is responsible for making sure that countries bound to the NPT are following it. IAEA was established in 1957 as a watchdog agency within the United Nations. It was set up as a response to the grow- ing fear of nuclear wars and attacks to promote world safety.
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In 1974, the Shah of Iran established the Iran Atomic Energy Organization, which was aimed to make nuclear power reactors. After the Islamic Revolution and during the Iran-Iraq war, the re- gime decided to restart the nuclear program in 1984. Starting in 1990, Iran started to develop its own nuclear cycle infrastructure and heavy water reactor production. In the mid-1990s, it began to secretly purchase uranium enrichment centrifug- es and began testing them in 2000. Iran’s main enrichment facility is currently located in the city of Nataz, which is about 200 miles south of its capital, Tehran.
Britain, France, and Germany, became interested in Iran’s nuclear program in 2002 when informa- tion regarding Iran’s nuclear activities became public. This is also when the IAEA became in- volved. IAEA conducted limited inspections and from these inspections, discovered evidence of Iran hiding secret fuel cycle advancements. In 2003, the three countries persuaded the govern- ment of Iran to suspend the enrichment program
and follow NPT’s regulations. However, Iran went against the agreement with the election of the hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005. In 2006, the United States joined the nego- tiations over Iran’s nuclear program and the first set of United Nations sanctions were imposed on Iran following President Ahmadinejad’s refusal to stop Iran’s nuclear program. United Nations Secu- rity Council and regional authorities have been ac- tive in imposing these sanctions. These sanctions have affected the Iranian economy drastically. The demand from Iran for its main foreign export, oil, has decreased as well as Iran’s currency value. In addition, inflation and unemployment have risen to record highs in Iran.
In the last United Nations General Assembly Meeting in September 2013, the newly elected and more moderate President of Iran, Hassan Rouhani, agreed to new talks on the nuclear pro- gram with the western powers. Furthermore, Iran told the IAEA that it wanted to achieve con- structive results within few months regarding its nuclear program. President Rouhani denied the allegations that Iran was pursuing or would ever pursue a nuclear weapon since the Supreme Leader has issued a fatwa, religious decree, against nuclear weapons. Yet, both Iran’s Presi- dent and the Foreign Minister stressed Iran’s right to having peaceful nuclear technology.
The U.S. argues that Iran does not have an auto- matic right to possess nuclear technology under international law because that would be a direct violation of the NPT. In a historic occurrence, President Obama called President Rouhani on September 27, 2013. They discussed their efforts to reach a deal on the nuclear program. Their con- versation was the first direct contact between the two nations in 34 years.
ILSA Quarterly » volume 22 » issue 2 » December 2013
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