If we consider the Middle East as a Centre-based regional security complex that is subject to the intervention of external power, we should assume the United States as the major trans-regional player in this security complex which, due to its interests in the region, has certain sensitivities toward this complex. On the other side, Iran is perceived as the most important challenge for the United States which could pose a threat against the interests of the United States. The article aims to study the objectives of the United States in securitizing Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities and isolating them.
The United States is considered the most important foreign enemy of Iran in the region. The United States has had hostile relationships with Iran and experienced difficulties for various reasons since the 1979 Islamic Revolution of Iran. From the event of the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran to condemning Iran for supporting terrorism, violating human rights and democracy, and then the issue of Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities, overall, have been raised by the United States as a major concern. As a superpower, the United States considers itself to have the right to expand its sphere of influence and fulfill its interests by expanding its interests in various security complexes, including the Middle East. Therefore, it is natural that as the most powerful trans-complex, it will face difficulties in achieving its goals. One of the easiest ways to solve this problem is to isolate the opposition country and not allowing it to participate in decision-making; an approach has been adopted concerning Iran.
Given the fear of Iran’s growing power in the region and its presence as a rival in the Middle East, with an emphasis on Iran’s nuclear activities, the United States is trying to introduce Iran as a threat to achieve its goals. Iran is a powerful country in the region and, as one of the powers in the region, wants to take an active part in the process of decision-making in the Middle East security complex; such as Iran’s efforts to influence Iraq and Afghanistan after Saddam and the Taliban respectively, which in many cases, these efforts were in line with the United States’ policy. However, the United States has repeatedly condemned Iran for interfering in the internal affairs of various countries in the Middle East, including Afghanistan and Iraq. From the American point of view, Iran is trying to influence the Shiites in Iraq by creating a corps like the Hezbollah in Lebanon, to use it as a lever of pressure against the United States and Israel when needed. American neoconservatives see Iran as a state that promotes anti-Americanism and encourages anti-American activities. From the point of view of the United States, Iran is Israel’s most important opponent in the region, as evidenced by the policies of the Islamic Republic’s political authorities, especially the policies of Ahmadinejad’s government and his remarks on the Holocaust. The United States considers the Islamic Republic a special country.
According to politicians, Iran’s access to any kind of nuclear technology could drive it towards making nuclear weapons. With this in mind, the United States Congress annually allocates a portion of its governmental budget for promoting democracy in the Middle East, and in particular for launching a propaganda campaign against Iran. Instability in the Middle East is one of the worst things that can happen to the United States because it may put its interests in energy at risk. On the other hand, in one case, it could turn into an opportunity for the United States since increasing insecurity in the region could become a pretext for the United States under which it would increase its military presence in its bases in the Middle East and Arab countries such as Bahrain. However, the United States is providing security for the Arab countries and in return receives money each year.
In addition, it has military bases in many Gulf countries, such as Bahrain, and has agreed to install long-range missiles in Turkey. On the other hand, many Middle Eastern countries seek the participation of the United States in their trades in terms of buying goods or weapons thereby feeling a sense of dependence on that country. Increasing the feeling of insecurity may lead to more interference of this trans-regional power. To achieve the goals of the Middle East, the United States has had to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, hence it realized that the cheapest way is to negotiate with Iran, but Iran’s emphasis on its legitimate right to achieve peaceful nuclear technology during the negotiations drove the United States towards focusing on securitizing Iran. Therefore, the United States securitized Iran in various ways to achieve its goals. These goals include maintaining the balance of power in the region, opposing the export of ideas of the Islamic Revolution, recognizing Israel as a state, and preventing the occurrence of an energy crisis.
The Nature of Iran’s Nuclear Activities from the Point of View of the United States
From the United States and the West’s point of view, as they call the Iranian concealment of nuclear activities, raises concerns about the goals of Iran’s nuclear activities. According to them, Iran’s arms activity focuses on the production and enrichment of uranium and plutonium, two of which are used in the production of nuclear weapons, and Iran did not notify the IAEA of the construction of the Natanz nuclear facility until 2003 when the United States National Defence Council revealed some information about that place. Their argument that Iran’s nuclear activities are non-peaceful is based on the fact that IAEA representatives and inspectors examined samples from the Natanz pilot plant for testing the quantity of uranium hexafluoride, by which the enrichment of uranium would be proved. However, Tehran said that the pollution is caused by the contaminated centrifuges. While from the American point of view, Iran had previously claimed that centrifuges are indigenous products.
This United States accusation against Iran was met with strong opposition from the Islamic Republic, after which Iran demanded that IAEA officials monitor Iran’s facilities, even though the United States remained suspicious about Iran’s nuclear program. American officials have argued that Iran claims that centrifuges have not enriched uranium to more than 20 percent, while in the view of the United States they can produce 90 percent enriched uranium per year. The United States officials believe that several domestic companies are involved in producing the highly enriched uranium, including the companies which provide the necessary equipment, machines and facilities, as well as the professionals working in this field, and this indicates that Iran is willing to produce nuclear weapons. One of the most important of these companies is the Kalaei Electric Company, a company that in the view of the United States had to be sanctioned at the beginning of the United States sanctions against Iran and eventually it was sanctioned. Uranium is produced at the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Centre, and other facilities produce plutonium. According to the United States, Iran produces 8 to 10 kilograms of plutonium per year, which is enough to make one or two nuclear weapons. A claim that the United States has never been able to prove. Regarding Iran’s nuclear activities, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said that the international community has a common position regarding the concerns about Iran’s approach. Bolton, the former Deputy Secretary of State, after the September 2004 Resolution, told the France media that “the United States would not stand by until November 2007, which is the deadline, and if Iran does not suspend its uranium enrichment program the United States will call on the Boards of Governors to convene and make a new decision about Iran before the deadline.” “If Iran, like Libya, stops trying to acquire nuclear weapons, we can continue to engage with Iran, otherwise Iran’s case will be sent to the Security Council,” he added.
In addition to considering Iran as a country that pursues making nuclear weapons, the United States believes that Iran, as an undesirable entity, is trying to create insecurity in the Middle East security complex. Nonetheless, by expanding its military and armaments program, including its nuclear energy program, Iran does not seek expansionism against other countries in the region whereas the West’s claims aim to persuade the public opinion in the Middle East and the world that Iran’s nuclear program will eventually lead to the production of atomic bombs and weapons of mass destruction.
Of course, this analysis of the United States, to a large extent, is caused by the security perspective, which is rooted in the hostilities against Iran since the beginning of the Islamic Revolution and only a part of which manifests itself in the form of tough measure against Iran. According to American and Israeli officials, there are important research bases in Iran, including Esfahan, Natanz, and Saghand, Arak, Bushehr and Qom all of which are located underground to be protected from airstrikes. The United States has signed agreements with the Zionist regime to sell the penetrator missiles that could penetrate at a depth of 20 meters so that it can use them to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. According to American officials, the Parchin complex is a possible site for carrying out researches on making nuclear weapons, which alone is constituted of hundreds of sheds and several different tunnels. In this regard, the United States judges Iran’s nuclear facilities based on its assumptions, while it does not know their exact location or even their functions. The United States and Europe believe that having nuclear fuel cycle technology means having the ability to produce nuclear weapons. From the Western and American perspectives, nuclear technology belongs to these countries and their allies, even if they are not members of the IAEA, produce nuclear weapons and test nuclear warheads (such as India and Pakistan). Securitizing Iran’s nuclear activities is not a recent United States-backed phenomenon against Iran and one should trace its history back to the beginning of the Islamic Revolution and examine this process since then.
Starting the Process of Securitizing
The process of securitizing Iran is not a new phenomenon and it has begun with the Islamic Revolution. However, the rise of Iran’s nuclear activities and its entry into political and international forums have contributed to the process of Iran’s securitization. The beginning of the process of securitizing Iran is related to the first years after the Islamic Revolution of Iran and the changing of Iran’s political discourse and the country’s new approach to the outside world. This situation overshadowed the political relations between Iran and the United States due to its support for the second Pahlavi regime.
The seizure of the American embassy in Tehran in 1981 led to the severance of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Following this incident, many Western politicians and the media tried to portray Iran as a serious threat to the United States’ national interests in the region. One of the most important variables was Iran’s attempt to export the Revolution, which raised concerns and created fears in the Middle East security complex. Accusing Iran of military interference in South Yemen in 1981 and supporting Lebanon’s Hezbollah has portrayed Iran as a challenge to regional and Western interests and it escalated the disputes between the two countries. The United States was waiting for the right time to use all its power against Iran. Iran’s nuclear program provided a pretext for the United States along with its ally in the Middle East the Zionist regime, to strongly oppose Iran. Since the mid-1980s, the Zionist regime, the United States, and other Western countries have accused Iran of trying to acquire a nuclear weapon. In contrast, Iranian officials have denied the allegations, saying that all Iranian nuclear programs have been peaceful and have no military use. By 2000, and after the exposure of part of Iran’s nuclear activities those allegations were escalated. At that time, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Union entered a new phase of long-term negotiations with Iran. In the aftermath of 9/11 and the invasion by the United States of Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States has identified nuclear Iran as its main enemy, which according to the United States, seeks to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Therefore, a new phase of securitization of Iran began in the American and Western media and among the politicians, which was accompanied by showing Iran a danger to the Gulf states. At the time, American politicians, especially the Bush administration, were trying to accuse Iran and decrease its influence in Iraq without providing any objective evidence. In addition, the United States has other reasons for securitizing Iran, which will be discussed.
Archive of The Enemies of the Islamic Revolution
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