An interesting sound bite came out this week during a BBC interview. President Obama says Iran has a legitimate right to pursue nuclear power for their country. The following is a brief exchange between Obama and the interviewer:

Interviewer: A couple former members of the international security council actually suggests that you should go further and that Iran should be regarded in the same way as Japan. In another words nuclear reprocessing should be accepted but monitored by the international agency. Is that remotely possible?

Obama: I think that the key is to initiate a process that is meaningful, that is rigorous between not only the United States and Iran bilaterally but also continuing with the five-plus-one discussions in a way that is constructive. Without going into specifics, what I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations. On the other hand, the international community has a very real interest in preventing a nuclear arms race in the region.

To get an understanding of the energy concerns facing Iran, especially in this oil and natural gas-rich nation, all we need to do is take a close look at her economy. Most of the wealth for this nation comes from the exporting of her natural resources, primarily oil and natural gas. Consumption of these resources would decrease how much it could export since Iran is a member of OPEC.

The oil cartel artificially manipulates oil prices by controlling how many barrels of oil the member-nations produce. Two of OPEC’s members (Iran and Venezuela) are highly dependent upon the high price of and the demand for oil to cover their national programs. Failure to maximize those two components of the equation means Iran cannot meet the financial needs of her citizens, and in turn hurts the faith in the government. As such, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is facing a tough re-election right now due in part to the drop in oil revenue.

An Iran with nuclear power isn’t a foreign concept to the United States. In fact, the United States helped Iran with the development of their first nuclear power plant in Tehran in 1967. After signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1968, the United States, France, and West Germany helped Iran expand their nuclear power production, with Iranian nuclear engineers being trained through Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But when the Islamic Revolution occurred in 1979, many of the power plant projects with the help from the West were left incomplete or were never started. Following the Iran-Iraq war, where many of the power plant projects were damaged or destroyed, Iran sought the help from the West to restart the nuclear program. However, the United States blocked these efforts, so Iran turned to China and Russia for assistance.

The problem with Iran is “trust.” How can we trust a country that took our state officials prisoner for over a year, or threaten on of our closest allies with total destruction? With the fear of Iran trying to develop a nuclear weapon to threaten the region, or possibly export the technology to other nations or terrorists that might possess the will to use it, could we ever trust the country to develop the technology on their own?

The interviewer gave us a hint as to one possible way to allow Iran develop nuclear power for peaceful purposes without the fear of the program being used to create nuclear weapons. In Japan, the government has adopted a strict policy known as the Three Principles. These principles are non-possession, non-production, and non-introduction of nuclear weapons in the country. Japan was able to hold to these principles with the help of the United States. With North Korea and China within striking distance of the island nation, Japan signed a treaty with the United States to provide a nuclear deterrent (or “shield”) over the nation.

Does Iran need a nuclear shield to protect herself from her neighbors? The only country with nuclear weapons that might be forced to use them is Israel (an ally of the U.S.), and they would only use them if attacked. The next closest nation that could pose a military threat would be Iraq, but with U.S. forces stationed there and overseeing the training and development of the military and government, it is unlikely that Iraq would attack anyone. So a shield wouldn’t be something Iran would be interested in. However, economic development is something that the nation is lacking.

If we were to enter into an “economic shield” with Iran, we might be able to convince Iran to adopt Japan’s Three Principles. The question then would be “How do we make sure Iran abides by them?” Unlike Japan, who was still suffering from the scars of two atomic weapons being dropped on their cities, Iran does not have a strong populist distaste for nuclear weapons. We would have to develop some sort of agreement that: 1) limits the type of nuclear power plants developed, 2) restricts the handling of nuclear material to the US or other non-Iranian entity, and 3) bars any sale/import of plutonium to Iran.

If – and that is a big “if” – President Obama can develop such a plan and get the international community and Iran to agree to it, he could easily change the dynamics of the region (as well as win reelection). Now if only he would encourage additional domestic nuclear power development here in the United States. Iran isn’t the only country facing an economic and energy crisis.

Related articles:
KXMC TV – “Obama: Iran Has A ‘Right’ To Go Nuclear”
The Washington Post – “Obama says Iran’s energy concern legitimate”
The Huffington Post – “Obama’s Iran Policy More Likely To End Nuclear Proliferation”
Hot Air - “Obama: Oil-rich nation’s nuclear-power aspirations ‘legitimate’”
The Weekly Standard – “Statement of the Day”
Anti-War – “Obama: Iran May Have Rights to Civilian Nuclear Power”
Payvand’s Iran News – “Iran’s Nuclear Program. Part I: Its History”
MSNBC - “Production cuts unlikely after OPEC meeting”

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