U.S.-Iran relations scary

Every time I hear a recent update about Iran’s nuclear enrichment program on the news, I… Every time I hear a recent update about Iran’s nuclear enrichment program on the news, I hold my breath. It’s a purely subconscious act. And it’s only after the anchorman moves on to the next story that I begin to notice the constricting pains in my diaphragm and I find myself gasping for air.

If you follow the news about Iran as religiously as I have these past few months, you’re probably familiar with that tense feeling of foreboding that makes you forget you need air once in a while. Whenever I see Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and President Bush situated side-by-side on the television screen, their mouths moving in muted anger while the voice-over dramatically explains the latest developments, I can’t help but fear the onset of World War III, or worse, the apocalypse.

That’s the feeling I got when I was watching the news the other day and heard that President Bush had called for a global isolation of Iran. Prompted by Israeli Prime Minster Ehud Olmert’s concerns that his country was in danger of possible attacks from Iran, Bush called for an international act of punishment.

After unscrewing my face from the pained expression it had automatically assumed, I began to wonder exactly how one goes about isolating a country. And what’s more, since when has Bush had the authority to call for global efforts of isolation? I mean, he’s not king of the world. Last time I checked, it was Leonardo DiCaprio who declared that he was king of the world on the deck of the Titanic. But I digress.

The continued U.S. persistence that Iran abandon its nuclear enrichment program makes us forget that Iran actually started its nuclear program way back in the 1950s with, ironically, the assistance of the United States. But then again, we always tend to forget the things we’re most ashamed of, like giving Saddam Hussein weapons of mass destruction during the Iran-Iraq war or helping to train prospective terrorists to combat the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But I digress, yet again.

The main point I want to make is that it’s not the thought of Ahmadinejad with nukes that generates frightening images of international warfare in my mind. Rather, it’s the world’s constant, and oftentimes unnecessary, coercion of Iran that I fear may provoke the country into doing the very thing we dread the most — eventually building many a nuclear weapon and using them.

We should take into consideration that Ahmadinejad has always emphasized that Iran’s nuclear enrichment program is peaceful. Now, I’m not implying that we necessarily trust a leader who sprinkles his speeches with anti-Semitism, questions the historical truth of the Holocaust, and suggests that Israel be “wiped off the map.” I’m simply saying that maybe we’re pushing too much and too soon.

After all, the International Atomic Energy Agency said last spring that there was no evidence of a nuclear weapons program in Iran. No nuclear weapons program means that Iran has not violated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. And even if Iran had a nuclear weapons program, U.S. intelligence agencies say that it would take years for the country to enrich enough uranium to build a nuclear weapon.

So are the sanctions truly necessary? Is isolation really what we need right now? And is the United States getting anywhere by labeling Iran as part of the “axis of evil” and, most recently, as a member of the “global nexus of terrorism”?

The answer is no. We’d be in much better shape if we left Iran’s nuclear enrichment program alone for a while. Because, for one thing, we could really use Iran’s help in Iraq. Iran has considerable influence over Iraq’s Shiite sector, and thus the capability to encourage (or undermine, depending on the situation) U.S. objectives for a unified Iraqi government.

But most importantly, pressuring Iran at this point leads to nothing but needless tension in an already unstable Middle East. Because, let’s face it, Iran is not building nuclear weapons. This continued coercion, however, may trigger Iran into reevaluating its objectives. After all, North Korea — that’s the country that actually admitted to possessing nukes — stated that the motivation behind recently testing its nuclear device was the Bush administration’s hostile policies.

Which brings me to my next point: Iran has been singled out as the only target of U.S. threats of sanctions and isolation, while North Korea is continually ignored. Now put yourself in Iran’s shoes for a second. Wouldn’t that make you mad? Perhaps, mad enough to want to make America’s worst assumption a reality? That’s the thought that frightens me the most.

U.S. foreign policy with regard to Iran right now is one of extreme preemption, driven by the psyche that Iran might produce a weapon. And that’s where we’re going wrong. The key is to take no action against Iran, so that Iran will take no action against us.

Don’t worry — you can exhale now. E-mail Elham at elk23@pitt.edu.