Download or read book Iran s Evolving Nuclear Program and Implications for U S Policy written by Eric Brewer and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 10 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Odds that the Iran nuclear deal can be revived have diminished over recent months. The expansion of Iran’s nuclear program is eroding the nonproliferation value of the deal and, at some point, returning to the deal will no longer be in the United States’ interest. What are those technical changes underway in Iran’s nuclear program? And why exactly might they imperil a chance at restoring the JCPOA? The technical developments taking place will remain relevant if and when the original participants in the nuclear deal reconvene in Vienna to negotiate its revival. Indeed, changes to Iran’s nuclear program and related elements—particularly over the past year, but some going back longer—have implications that go beyond the JCPOA. These changes—a mix of progress in some areas and setbacks in others—not only make a return to the original JCPOA more difficult, but they will also require that the United States rethink how to detect any future attempt by Iran to build nuclear weapons as well as the benefits and risks of various policy options for containing Iran’s nuclear program.

Download or read book Iran s Nuclear Future written by Lynn E Davis and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2011-05 with total page 155 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As Iran?'s nuclear program evolves, U.S. decisionmakers will confront a series of critical policy choices involving complex considerations and policy trade-offs. These policy choices could involve dissuading Iran from developing nuclear weapons; deterring Iran from using its nuclear weapons, if it were to acquire them; and reassuring U.S. regional partners. The U.S. Air Force will need to prepare to carry out whatever policies are chosen.

Download or read book Reassessing the implications of a nuclear armed Iran written by Judith S. Yaphe and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2005 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph reexamines the strategic implications for the United States in the event Iran moves ahead to acquire nuclear weapons capability. This study draws on expert workshops held in the Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) at the National Defense University (NDU) in January and February 2005, as well as meetings, interviews, and research conducted at NDU and elsewhere over the past several years. Chapters are as follows: "Iran's Perspective: National Rights and Nuclear Weapons," "Neighbors, Negotiators, and Nonproliferators," and "U.S. Policy Options." Appendixes include "Timeline of Iran's Path to Nuclear Weapons," "Iran's Nuclear Program: Status, Risks, and Prospects," and "Walking the Tightrope: Israeli Options in Response to Iranian Nuclear Developments."

Download or read book United States and the Iranian Nuclear Programme written by Steven Hurst and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2018-08-01 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steven Hurst traces the development of the US - Iranian nuclear weapon crisis from the conception of Iran's nuclear programme in 1957 to the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in 2015. Hurst adopts a broader perspective on the Iranian nuclear programme and explains the continued failure of the USA to halt it.

Download or read book An Analysis of U S Policies Targeting the Iranian Nuclear Program written by Bryan T. Hamilton and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ABSTRACT: Iran's nuclear program continues to present a major challenge to U.S. policy. At the core of this challenge is one fundamental question: Is Iran attempting to build a nuclear weapon? Objective analysis reveals that Iran's dependence on oil and natural gas provides sufficient economic merit for Iran to pursue a peaceful nuclear program; without nuclear power to meet rising domestic energy needs, Iran's economy will suffer. Though the economic justification is valid, the security of Iran and the survival of its regime are overarching; acts of foreign interference in Iran's affairs have fueled the regime's quest for a nuclear weapon. For this reason, U.S. administrations since the 1979 revolution have striven to derail Iran's nuclear program through policies of containment, isolation, and denial of nuclear technology. Considering the current standoff between Iran and the U.S., we must ask another key question: How effective have U.S. policies been? The answer is simple; Iran has made significant progress in its nuclear program. Sanctions, political pressure, and threats proved no obstacle to Iran; worse still, ignoring IAEA and others' reports that found no convincing evidence that Iran is building nuclear weapons damaged U.S. efforts significantly. Iran's progress makes it clear that U.S. policies have failed, and its strategies must be discarded in favor of a new approach. This research implicates that a non-confrontational engagement policy, which acknowledges Iran's needs to build a peaceful nuclear program will provide President Obama and the U.S. the highest probability of preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Download or read book Containing Iran written by Robert J. Reardon and published by Rand Corporation. This book was released on 2012-09-27 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Iran's nuclear program is one of this century's principal foreign policy challenges. Despite U.S., Israeli, and allied efforts, Iran has an extensive enrichment program and likely has the technical capacity to produce at least one nuclear bomb if it so chose. This study assesses U.S. policy options, identifies a way forward, and considers how the United States might best mitigate the negative international effects of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Download or read book Iran and the Nuclear Question written by Mohammad Homayounvash and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-09-13 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spanning over a period of more than five decades since its inception, Iran’s nuclear programme is the most protracted civilian nuclear program in the world and one of the most politicized projects in Iran’s history. 'Iran and the Nuclear Question' offers a historiographical portrait of Iran’s early nuclear program under Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. Using declassified archival material, the book thematically chronicles the program’s genesis, evolutionary trajectory, and devolution from the 1950s through to the 1970s. It also catalogues the Revolutionary Iran’s early socialization into the atom and the Islamic Republic’s gradual change of heart about nuclear energy that culminated in the incremental resuscitation of the Shah’s nuclear enterprise in the 1980s. As the first archive-based account of one of the most long-lasting and capital-intensive nuclear enterprises during the Cold War, ‘Iran and the Nuclear Question’ is a valuable resource for students and scholars of Iranian, Middle East and Security Studies. Written in a clear and accessible format, it will also appeal to those with a more general interest in Iran and its nuclear journey.

Download or read book Checking Iran s Nuclear Ambitions written by Henry D. Sokolski and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Considering the latest Iranian nuclear developments, one might question whether a study now on how best to restrain Tehran is simply one that's come too late. To be sure, estimates vary as to when Iran could build its first bomb. Some believe Tehran could do it before the end of 2005; others think Iran would only be able to do so by the end of the decade. In either case, though, the die seems cast: If Iran wants, it has all that it needs eventually to build a bomb on its own. Certainly, trying to deny Iran further nuclear technology in the hopes that this will prevent it from getting nuclear weapons is no longer a credible strategy. The questions this edited volume addresses are whether or not any strategy can prevent Iran from going nuclear, what the proper goals of such a strategy might be (deterring use, keeping Tehran from deploying weapons, getting it to dismantle its nuclear program, etc.), and what other nonproliferation goals ought to be attempted (including trying to dissuade other nations from following Iran's example). The answers this volume offers are: 1) in the long-run Iran will gain little from going nuclear, and 2) much can be gained by enforcing the nonproliferation rules Iran agreed to and spelling out the costs to Iran of its continuing acquisition of nuclear weapons- related capabilities.

Download or read book Iran Internal Politics and U S Policy and Options written by Congressional Research Service and published by Independently Published. This book was released on 2019-01-21 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Summary Ever since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the United States and Iran have been at odds, although to varying degrees of intensity. During the 1980s and 1990s, U.S. officials identified Iran's support for militant Middle East groups as the primary threat posed by Iran to U.S. interests and allies. Iran's nuclear program took precedence in U.S. policy after 2002 as the potential for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon increased. In 2010, the Obama Administration orchestrated broad international economic pressure on Iran to persuade it to agree to strict limits on the program. The pressure contributed to the June 2013 election of the relatively moderate Hassan Rouhani as president of Iran and the negotiation of a nuclear agreement-the ﷿Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action﷿ (JCPOA)-which exchanged sanctions relief for limits on Iran﷿s nuclear program. The JCPOA reduced the potential threat from Iran﷿s nuclear program, but did not contain strict or binding limits on Iran﷿s ballistic missile program; its regional influence; its conventional military programs; or its human rights abuses. The Trump Administration cited these deficiencies of the JCPOA in its May 8, 2018, announcement that the United States would exit the JCPOA and reimpose all U.S. secondary sanctions by November 4, 2018. The stated intent of Trump Administration policy is to apply maximum economic pressure on Iran to compel it to change its behavior on the various issues of concern to the United States, including its support for regional armed factions. The U.S. exit from the JCPOA has raised concerns about the potential for the United States and Iran to come into direct armed conflict in the region, and the Administration asserts that it might react militarily to provocative actions by Iran. Because of the many facets and issues involved in U.S. policy, on August 16, 2018, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced formation of an ﷿Iran Action Group﷿ to coordinate all aspects of State Department activity on Iran. In September 2018, the Iran Action Group issued a report, entitled Outlaw Regime: A Chronicle of Iran's Destructive Activities that accused Iran of a long litany of behaviors, including human rights abuses that threaten U.S. interests. Some experts assert that the threat posed by Iran stems from the nature and ideology of Iran﷿s regime, and that the underlying, if unstated, goal of Trump Administration policy is to bring about regime collapse. A regime change strategy presumably would take advantage of divisions and fissures within Iran, as well as evident popular unrest. Hassan Rouhani, a moderate who seeks to improve Iran﷿s relations with the West, including the United States, won successive presidential elections in 2013 and 2017, and reformist and moderate candidates won overwhelmingly in concurrent municipal council elections in all the major cities. But hardliners continue to control the state institutions that maintain internal security in large part through suppression. In part as a response to repression as well as economic conditions, unrest erupts periodically, most recently during December 2017-January 2018, and sporadically since then. President Trump has indicated a willingness to meet with Iranian leaders, but his key foreign policy subordinates have set strict conditions for any broader improvement in relations-conditions the regime is highly unlikely to meet. Administration officials have been increasingly highlighting Iran﷿s human rights abuses and systemic corruption in an apparent attempt to build international support for sanctions and possibly also to weaken support for the regime within Iran.

Download or read book Checking Iran s Nuclear Ambitions written by Henry D. Sokolski and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Were Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, there is a grave risk it would be tempted to provide them to terrorists. After all, mass casualty terrorism done by proxies has worked well for Iran to date. The fear about what Iran might do with nuclear weapons is fed by the concern that Tehran has no clear reason to be pursuing nuclear weapons. The strategic rationale for Iran's nuclear program is by no means obvious. Unlike proliferators such as Israel or Pakistan, Iran faces no historic enemy who would welcome an opportunity to wipe the state off the face of the earth. Iran is encircled by troubled neighbors, but nuclear weapons does nothing to help counter the threats that could come from state collapse in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, or Azerbaijan. Achieving trans-Atlantic consensus on how to respond to Iran's nuclear program will be difficult. This is a remarkably bad time for the international community to face the Iran nuclear problem, because the tensions about the Iraq WMD issue still poison relations and weaken U.S. ability to respond. Nevertheless, Iran's nuclear program poses a stark challenge to the international nonproliferation regime. There is no doubt that Iran is developing worrisome capabilities. If the world community led by Western countries is unable to prevent Iranian proliferation, then it is unclear that there is much meaning to global nonproliferation norms. Iran's nuclear program raises stark shortcomings with the global nonproliferation norms. The basic deal behind the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is that countries are allowed to acquire a wide range of troubling capabilities in return for being open and transparent. The NPT gives Iran every right to have a full closed fuel cycle, with large uranium enrichment facilities and a reprocessing plant that can extract substantial amounts of plutonium-capabilities which would permit Iran at any time to rapidly "break out" of the NPT, building a considerable number of nuclear weapons in a short time. Had Iran been fully transparent about its nuclear activities, then even if Iran had gone so far as to operate a full closed fuel cycle, the international community would have been split deeply about how to react. It is fortunate indeed that Iran decided to cheat on its NPT obligations by hiding some of what is doing, because that has made much easier the construction of an international consensus that Iran's nuclear program is troubling. But the experience with Iran should lead to reflection about whether the basic NPT deal needs to be revisited.

Download or read book The Iran Primer written by Robin B. Wright and published by US Institute of Peace Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive but concise overview of Iran's politics, economy, military, foreign policy, and nuclear program. The volume chronicles U.S.-Iran relations under six American presidents and probes five options for dealing with Iran. Organized thematically, this book provides top-level briefings by 50 top experts on Iran (both Iranian and Western authors) and is a practical and accessible "go-to" resource for practitioners, policymakers, academics, and students, as well as a fascinating wealth of information for anyone interested in understanding Iran's pivotal role in world politics.

Download or read book The U S Approach Towards Iran s Nuclear Development is a Failure in Its Current Form and Needs Redefinition written by Steven Carl Barnett and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 57 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The U.S. has employed numerous strategies over three decades to stop Iran from pursuing a nuclear program but to no avail. Understanding why U.S. policy has failed to achieve this desired end requires a thorough examination of past policies and events which ultimately led to the current policy approach and the state of affairs in today's environment. Missed opportunities by the U.S. to engage in diplomatic dialogue with Iran following the overthrow of the Pahlavi regime set the future course of animosity between the two nation states. An analysis of the last thirty plus years of U.S. policy towards Iran shows the inability of the U.S. to properly assess a diverse global strategic environment and produce policy commensurate to those challenges. Failure to recognize and contain the numerous external factors, which enabled Iran to develop its nuclear program, has played a key role in undermining U.S. policy efforts. The U.S. has consistently failed to consider those concerns underlying Iran's motivation to pursue a nuclear program and produce a policy relevant to those concerns. Analyzing the reasons U.S. policy toward Iran has failed in the past and the application of critical thinking to current and future policy strategy is the first step toward recommending an approach that produces both security and stability in the region and satisfies the national interests of all countries."-- Abstract

Download or read book Iran written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Dealing with Iran and its nuclear program will be an urgent priority for the next president. In order to evaluate U.S. policy options, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) convened a bipartisan group of experts on foreign policy and national security, retired military personnel, former diplomats and other government officials, and specialists on Iran and the region. Ambassador Dennis Ross presented a paper on diplomatic strategies for dealing with Iran, and Dr. Suzanne Maloney wrote on potential Iranian responses. Dr. Ashton Carter evaluated various U.S. military options, and Dr. Vali Nasr described likely Iranian reactions and other potential impacts. Ambassador Richard Haass considered the challenges of living with a nuclear Iran. Each of these papers represents an important contribution to a much-needed national discussion on U.S. policy toward Iran. Based on these papers and expert group discussion, as well as additional research and analysis, three CNAS authors (Dr. James Miller, Christine Parthemore, and Dr. Kurt Campbell) proposed that the next administration pursue 'game-changing diplomacy' with Iran. While both Iran and the international community would be better off if Iran plays ball, game-changing diplomacy is designed to improve prospects for the United States and the international community irrespective of how Iran responds."--Publisher description.

Download or read book Iran as a Strategic Threat to the U S in the Middle East and Its Impact on U S Policy in the Region written by Aaron Michael Craig Richards and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This essay will examine Iran’s nuclear program and foreign and defense policy and how these threats shape U.S. defense and foreign policy in the region. Iran’s advanced nuclear program is only one aspect of its goal to reaching regional hegemony in the Middle East. Iran looks to establish itself as a dominant power in the region by employing non-military tools such as promoting Shiism and Iranian ideology and supporting Arab and non-Arab political leaders and groups friendly toward Iran. Meanwhile, the United States and other world powers are concerned about Iran’s enrichment program being diverted to develop nuclear weapons, which may further destabilize the region. In addition to maintaining an advanced nuclear program, Iran has also taken courses of action to expand its influence and preserve its interests in the Middle East by providing direct material support to terrorist groups and developing military capabilities that threaten the security of the U.S. and its allies in the region. Because of Iran’s destabilizing role in the region, such as its support of terrorist proxy groups in Iraq and Syria, and Iran’s development of missile and naval capabilities directed at countering the defenses of Israel and U.S.-allied Gulf states, the U.S. may have to modify its Middle East policy that reflects Iran's larger and potentially more destructive role in the region while also gradually expecting greater burden-sharing from its regional partners.

Download or read book Iran s Nuclear Program and International Law written by Daniel Joyner and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides an international legal analysis of the most important questions regarding Iran's nuclear program since 2002. Setting these legal questions in their historical and diplomatic context, this book aims to clarify how the relevant sources of international law - including primarily the 1968 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and IAEA treaty law - should be properly applied in the context of the Iran case. It provides an instructional case study of the application of these sources of international law, the lessons which can be applied to inform both the on-going legal and diplomatic dynamics surrounding the Iran nuclear dispute itself, as well as similar future cases. Some questions raised regard the watershed diplomatic accord reached between Iran and Western states in July, 2015, known as the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action. The answers will be of interests to diplomats and academics, as well as to anyone who is interested in understanding international law's application to this sensitive dispute in international relations.

Download or read book Crs Report for Congress written by Congressional Research Service: The Libr and published by BiblioGov. This book was released on 2013-11 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to an Administration national security strategy document released on March 16, 2006, the United States "may face no greater challenge from a single country than Iran." To date, the Bush Administration has pursued several avenues to attempt to contain the potential threat posed by Iran, including supporting a longterm policy of changing Iran's regime. However, the near-term Administration drive to prevent any Iranian nuclear weapons breakthrough has brought diplomatic and economic strategies to the forefront of U.S. policy. As part of that effort, the Bush Administration announced May 31 it would negotiate with Iran in concert with U.S. allies; in past years the Bush Administration had some limited dialogue with Iran on specific regional issues. If diplomacy and sanctions do not succeed, some advocate military action against Iran's nuclear infrastructure rather than acquiescence to a nuclear-armed Iran. Iran's nuclear program is not the only major U.S. concern on Iran. Successive administrations have pointed to the threat posed by Iran's policy in the Near East region, particularly material support to groups that use violence to prevent or complicate Israeli-Arab peace. Such groups include Hizballah in Lebanon and the Palestinian groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Hamas has formed a Palestinian ...

Download or read book The Iranian Nuclear Crisis written by Seyed Hossein Mousavian and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2012-07-12 with total page 614 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first detailed Iranian account of the diplomatic struggle between Iran and the international community, The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Memoir opens in 2002, as news of Iran's clandestine uranium enrichment and plutonium production facilities emerge. Seyed Hossein Mousavian, previously the head of the Foreign Relations Committee of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and spokesman for Tehran's nuclear negotiating team, brings the reader into Tehran's private deliberations as its leaders wrestle with internal and external adversaries. Mousavian provides readers with intimate knowledge of Iran's interactions with the International Atomic Energy Agency and global powers. His personal story comes alive as he vividly recounts his arrest and interrogations on charges of espionage. Dramatic episodes of diplomatic missions tell much about the author and the swirling dynamics of Iranian politics and diplomacy—undercurrents that must be understood now more than ever. As intense debate continues over the direction of Iran's nuclear program, Mousavian weighs the likely effects of military strikes, covert action, sanctions, and diplomatic engagement, considering their potential to resolve the nuclear crisis. Contents 1. The Origin and Development of Iran's Nuclear Program 2. The First Crisis 3. From Tehran to Paris 4. From the Paris Agreement to the 2005 Presidential Election 5. The Larijani Period 6. To the Security Council 7. Back to the Security Council and a New Domestic Situation 8. Iran Alone: The Jalili Period 9. U.S. Engagement 10. The Crisis Worsens 11. Conclusion